Embracing the Darkness
by Yuuki Otonashi
Summary: After making Mana an akuma and destroying him, Allen gets invited into certain family and gets adopted yet again. But what if that certain family is the one that will help in the destruction of the world? -DarkAllen & NoahAllen Later -
1. Prologue

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Hello! This is my first fan fiction of all times and I really do hope that instead of flaming me, you will criticize me.

I like critics 3

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**Chapter Zero:** Prologue

"Mana…"

The words kept on repeating in his head as he sat beside a stone cross and at the bottom were the words engraved 'Mana Walker.'

"Mana…"

Tears flooded his eyes. Why was Mana taken away from him? The only one who didn't shun him because of his deformed left arm. The only one who accepted him and cared for him.

"Why?..."

"Mana Walker," said a peculiar voice out of the blue. The boy looked up to see a grotesque caricature of a Victorian gentleman. His skin tone is a sickly gray. He was a rotund figure in cape and top hat, with an enormous grin that remained fixed and his eyes permanently hidden behind a pair of small, round spectacles. "Shall I revive him for you?"

The teary boy looked up to look at the uncanny gentleman before him. "Can you really call Mana back?" he asked hopefully, though he didn't move an inch.

"Of course, I can," laughed the man. "Just say the name of your loved one who that vile God had taken away from you."

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"Mana!"

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"Mana… Mana…" sobbed the boy as his eyes remained fixed on the remains of his akuma father, ignoring the screaming pain on his left eye and cheek. "Mana…"

The round figure had watched the spectacle with curiosity. The boy was an Exorcist. A threat to his plans. But why was he with the traitor's brother? Surely maybe the boy was the requirement of the player of the fourteenth. Yes, yes. The man assumed he was.

The best thing to do was to kill the boy. The boy who had a parasitic innocence and had—possibly—the fourteenth's memories implanted within him.

"Mana…"

Curious. Just curious… What would happen if he took in and fostered the boy as his own? As a Noah? His fixed grin, if possibly, grew wider.

Yes, yes. That would be interesting indeed.

"Mana…"

He approached the boy, who had his eyes still on the remains of the akuma. "Hello again. Whatever is the matter, young boy?"

The boy looked at him. Interesting.

Not a single hint of hatred in his eyes. Surely any person would have blamed him for that incident, would they? Akuma are such pitiful creatures.

The boy looked down to his knees, finally stopped his sobbing. "If you want to kill me do it now, p-please. I have nothing left for me in this world."

The man's gaze at the boy remained fixed. "Of course you do, young boy. Should you want to stay with my family?" he finished with a tone that was almost childish.

Once again, the boy looked at him. Not with the downhearted, tearful eyes but one with a tinge of hope in it. The man's grin went wider.

"Really?"

"Of course. Let me first introduce myself. I am the Millennium Earl."

"I'm Allen Walker, Sir Millennium Earl."

The Earl chuckled. "No, no, no. Don't call me Earl, Allen-kun. You may call me Duke if you please."

"C-certainly, Duke Millennium," Allen said. Mana had taught him how to be polite to people, mostly.

"Welcome to the family, Allen-kun."

**

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**

Allen:

Twelve years old.

"Allen-chan!"

Allen groaned. He had just awoken at the bangs and hard knocks on his door, which stood two akuma maids who were ready to assist Allen if he needed it.

"Allen-chan! I want us to play again! Please? Pretty please?"

The girl kept on banging that door as she said it. "Allen-chan!" she whined. "Okay, then lets not play," she resolved, her voice sounding peevish. "Daddy said we should be at the garden to talk to him, Allen! Now _please_, get up!" With that, Allen heard stomping of heels that were steadily becoming faint as the seconds ticked by.

He breathed deeply. It was a good thing the Duke told everyone to give him enough personal space, but that wasn't enough to stop Rhode from bugging him. Even though if they both were adopted by the same person.

Sheryl Camelot. Prime Minister of Portugal, the Noah of Desires and, lastly, the father of two adopted children whom he was very overprotective with.

Allen was lucky Sheryl, though they were not related by blood and even though Allen was an accommodator of a certain innocence, was enthusiastic when the Duke brought Allen along in his household. And he was luckier when he was adopted to the Camelot family.

Yep. He is known as Allen Camelot now even though he can't forget about Mana, who was the main reason why he joined the Noahs in the first place.

The Duke wanted to get rid of the curse that Mana gave him but Allen didn't want to loose it. It was Mana's will. Mana wanted Allen to atone for his sin, and so he cursed the boy.

He had already dressed in his usual gentleman's dress which Sheryl had chosen for him. Black and expensive is Sheryl's liking for him, so Allen has to put up with rather expensive and monochromatic belongings.

After dressing up, he set off towards the corridor which leads to the gardens. He sighed.

His first time here he got miserably lost when he was told to meet the family. It was a good thing Rhode thought he was playing hide-and-seek and tried and succeeded in finding him.

"Hello, Sheryl-san," he said politely.

The man who was sitting in a beautifully-made seat turned to see Allen. He was almost pouting, with Rhode sitting on his lap and was almost obscured by his body. "Aww, please call me 'daddy,' Allen-chan?" Rhode nodded at this.

Allen smiled pleasantly. "Only if you stop calling my name with a '–chan' almost every time, then I'll start calling you dad, Sheryl-san."

Rhode piped up and her height slightly rose a few centimeters up. "Well, that won't be fair for any of us, right daddy? Everyone must have a nickname," she declared.

"The twins don't have a nickname," Allen pointed out.

"Well, they were too dumb to have nicknames anyway," Rhode mused.

Sheryl chuckled at her. "Listen, Rhode, Allen," this quickly gained their attention. "The Duke is coming to visit us, and Tyki is with him for Allen's training."

Rhode perked up at the news of the Duke coming to her human home while leaving Allen to dread at training again with Tyki. Tyki was forced to train Allen and Allen was forced to be Tyki's student until he deemed powerful enough.

So far, his training with Tyki was progressing fast. From the primitive form of his clad-like claw to the cannon and laser-sword type and to the point where he nearly got killed by encountering that God-forsaken exorcist.

Allen could still remember the fresh memories two months ago.

_

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_

Flashback

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The still-eleven year old Allen was trotting beside Tyki Mikk, who was a lot taller than him by a few feet. Allen looked excited and a rather amused Tyki was looking out into the woods.

They were in India. As hot as this place can be, there were still spots where vegetation can be spotted. Only the vegetation here was looking like it was withered because of its brown texture.

"Tyki? What are we doing here again?" asked a curious Allen who huffed and tried to follow where the older Noah was heading.

Tyki looked back. "Exorcist hunting," he answered.

This made Allen slightly confused. "What's an exorcist?"

This time Tyki didn't look back. "You'll find out, boy. Just follow me," he said as he pushed the twigs out of the way for Allen to go through.

Now, they were going deeper and deeper into the hot forest and Allen was starting to feel that both he and Tyki were lost in it. "Tyki," he said, "are you sure you know where we're going?"

"Of course! Why would I get lost? Besides," he added darkly, his voice suddenly becoming cold and full of malice. "We found them."

Tyki had pointed to where there were two people standing, both of which were wearing black cloaks with silver-like decorations, but the one decoration that stood most was the big cross embedded on their right shoulders.

"Tyki, wha—" Allen began but was cut off when Tyki shushed him. But it was futile; the two cloaked people had noticed them and were heading towards them.

"What's this?" one of them said, his voice sounding stern and was full of suspicion. "Yo, civilians are supposed to be indoors. You two! Get back inside if you know what's good for you!"

The other cloaked person, a woman, smacked him in the head hard. As he toppled over, she politely said to them, "Don't worry about him, he's just an idiot." As she looked at them, she seemed to have noticed something. "You don't look like you're one of the civilians; I take it you're tourists?"

"Tina! That hurt!" whined the other one, but she ignored him.

Allen looked at her, she was pretty, but as he looked at Tyki, he felt a tinge of fear. Tyki was at it again, his smile was twisted in some way, and his eyes were glaring at them. The girl—Tina—seemed to have noticed and ever so slightly took a step back.

"What?" she asked. Her partner seemed to have noticed the edginess in her voice and quickly came to her side, looking determined and serious.

"I think he's the akuma, Tina," the boy said, not taking his eyes off Tyki's.

Tyki merely laughed at this, Allen shuddered since it sounded manic. "Don't think that I'm at the same level as those akuma, exorcists."

Allen's eyes widened at bit at this. So these were the exorcists! Though, he expected them to look more intimidating than this, but he finally saw who Tyki was hunting… _But what for?_ he thought.

Tyki looked at Allen less-maniacally, "Allen, pick one. The Duke wanted you to be experienced with dealing with these exorcists so I'll let you pick one of them."

Allen wasn't sure with what Tyki said when he had to 'deal' with the exorcist, but he liked the girl exorcist. He pointed to the direction of the girl, who looked appalled. "I like her," he said innocently.

In a mere second, Tyki was behind the boy. "Sol!" cried Tina, but it was too late. Tyki had put his hand through where the boy's heart was but didn't do anything other than saying, "Sol was it? Please stay put and be a good exorcist while I train my boy, hmm?"

Sol turned his face to look at Tyki and spat at him, the blood-covered spit that was supposed to hit Tyki's face just went through as though he wasn't there.

Sol gasped while Tyki smirked.

Tyki adverted his gaze to Allen. "Allen, kill the girl," he commanded, much to Allen's shock. Allen's eyes widened and his mouth was gaping open.

The girl didn't draw anything of sorts, but she was looking through her pockets and almost everywhere she could look at. "T-Tina?" asked Sol in a strangled voice.

"My anti-akuma weapon! It's gone!" she gasped.

Tyki smirked at this. "I didn't think Allen would win a fight with an experienced exorcist so I stole it when I had the chance. You exorcists are so weak. Now, Allen! Go do your mission now," he said rather impatiently at the boy who was hesitating.

Both he and the girl were loosing both their cool, as Allen was engrossed whether he will kill the exorcist girl or disobey Tyki and suffer the punishment.

Allen shuddered at the thought but didn't notice the girl who drew a military knife, ready to attack Allen. "I-I'm n-not going t-to die just y-y-yet!" she stuttered.

Allen felt sorry for her. She was getting frightened at a boy, who was almost fifteen years young than she was. _How pitiful_, he thought.

Much to his surprise, the girl lunged at his with her knife. He yelped as he dodged her assault and said, "Wait!"

But she didn't stop. Nor wait. She kept on trying to kill him, he could see her eyes, wide and panicked-driven ones. He backed away and was surprised to feel a tree bark behind him.

The girl lunged at him again. "Wai—!" Allen was cut off when he felt pain on his stomach. He instinctively shoved the girl away from him using his activated innocence and cupped his stomach.

It was wet with warm blood.

"Ah, ah," Allen huffed. It hurt so badly. Why did she attack him? "W-why?" he asked.

"T-Tina… That arm… innocence…" choked Sol, who was hopeless against Tyki.

"Eh?" Tyki asked, tilting his head to the side. "You can still talk like that? Perhaps I should just kill you right now, hmmm?" he slightly squeezed Sol's heart which sends him into coughing up blood.

"Allen!" Tyki called out. "Are you okay? Just kill the girl already so we can treat your wound."

Allen staggered back. So he should kill the girl so that it will all be over? "B-but—!" he stuttered.

Kill? _Kill?_ Was Tyki out of his mind?

''_Destroy me, Allen' _

The girl lunged again. _'Allen, I love you. Please destroy me,'_ Allen's eyes were brimming with tears now. Why were these memories coming back? Why is it…?

Closer, the girl came.

Closer.

Allen couldn't take it. He didn't want to die. Not here, not now. As the girl came close enough, there was a white blur, a slashing sound and blood splattering on the hot ground.

He had struck her squarely on the chest. She fell to the ground, gasping and was starting to loose blood fast.

_I get it now_, Allen thought. Even though this innocence is attached to my hand, I must save all people. It is God's will to destroy the world, right? Then I will help the Duke. The exorcists are just foolish humans that don't want to die. They only want to suffer more.

But I will destroy them all.

His silver eyes were cold as he approached the girl. The girl seemed to be looking at something… his hand. His hand was deforming.

Tyki watched the spectacle with mere awe. _So his innocence is evolving…?_ he thought. So the training was effective after all… Tyki watched the claw-like weapon shrivel and after a few minutes, what was a claw was now a cannon-like hand.

Interesting…

Allen raised his weapon to the girl's face. "Die, pitiful human."

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There... I don't know if that was good enough but if it is, please review 'cuz I'll resume on making this... fanfiction. =3


	2. Calm Before the Storm

So you were probably thinking, "Who was this Sol? Tina?"

Well, they weren't OC's, mind you. They were created by Hoshino-sensei herself and so help me God I don't own them!~

If you really wanna know where they were mentioned then go to a manga site and go to chapter forty-four page seven. There you will see them, dead!~ (Though, there was a typo of Sol's name but, oh well!)

Hope you'll like this… *Spanks herself*

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**Chapter One:** Calm Before the Storm

Allen was sitting at the seat that Sheryl sat a little while ago, remembering the encounter with the exorcist while cupping where the woman had stabbed him.

It was a good thing that they had the ark, or he would have been dead because of blood loss. Although, there was one thing that was unusual, Tyki didn't call the ark since, he said, that he can't control it. Allen did.

Tyki had called him something else too: the 'fourteenth.'

He pondered who this 'fourteenth' Tyki was talking about. Allen knew, because the Duke had explained to him the moment they had gotten here the first time, that there were only thirteen original Noahs. So who was this 'fourteenth'?

Maybe that person was an exorcist? No, that can't be. Only a Noah can control the ark.

Maybe the Duke would explain to him when they get here. But do they trust him enough to tell him that? He had an innocence attached to his arm. He was supposed to be an enemy to them.

But he was loyal to the Duke and the Noahs—partly—since they were the one that took him in when Mana died. They have accepted him—though not fully—as a part of the family, he knew he was an important asset in their war.

Why else would the Duke want him alive than dead?

He was brought back to reality when he heard the shuffling of feet and the indecorous jabbering of Rhode's voice. Rhode was talking about something like homework. Allen couldn't help but chuckle.

When Allen knew they were close enough, he stood up. "Good morning, Duke, Tyki," he said politely to the approaching figures.

"Good morning, Allen," said the Duke in his monocle and dress garment.

The Duke and others sat down beside the elegantly-designed seat that Allen sat.

Though Allen had a polite smiling face and a composed façade, he can't help become nervous since all of them, except Rhode, looked serious.

"Boy," said Tyki as he took a cup of tea from the akuma maid. "You were probably wondering who the 'fourteenth' was."

Allen nodded at this. Even though he was twelve, he wanted to know the truth, who this 'fourteenth' was and why Tyki had called him that.

"The 'fourteenth' was a Noah."

They all looked at the Duke, who was adding sugar to his tea. "He was the youngest noah and was the only one who had complete control over the ark."

Allen nodded again. "But how come you only said that there were thirteen Noahs? Why hide the existence of the 'fourteenth?'"

The Duke drank a bit of his tea before adding more sugar into it. "He was a traitor. He placed a curse upon the ark so that it may not move anymore. He stole it's power—it's wings—so that it can't move from Edo, Japan. I killed him personally."

Allen looked slightly perplexed. "Then what is the connection between me and the 'fourteenth?'"

This time, Tyki answered. "Before he got killed by the Duke, he gave his powers to somebody, the Musician. You," he added to a surprised Allen.

The Duke continued for Tyki and said, "He also had an older brother. From the time he got accepted into the Noah family to the point where he betrayed me and got killed, there was one person that stuck to him all that time. Mana Walker," he said, leaving Allen shocked and speechless.

Allen struggled to think properly from the revelation. He struggled to talk but it felt like something was stuck in his throat. His wide eyes never left the Duke's vague gaze.

After a short while, Allen finally got hold of his voice. "Th-then…?" he was almost afraid to ask. Was he going to get killed like the 'fourteenth.'?

The Duke lowered his cup and placed it on the table. "That means," he said, "that you are both a Noah and an accommodator of the innocence. An unusual boy, you are. And no, I will not kill you," he assured as though he read Allen's mind. "I have decided to give the 'fourteenth' a second chance at the family. Since I know that you, Allen, are loyal to me. Am I wrong?"

Allen shook his head, much to the Duke's pleasure. "I will be loyal to you, Duke. I will not be corrupted by the exorcists and I will the let the 'fourteenth's' will obscure my own."

The Duke looked satisfied with Allen's speech and began drinking his tea again. After a short while of silence, the Duke spoke up again. "I fear that the exorcist general, Cross Marian, may be up to something with my akuma egg. Allen," he said as Allen's silver eyes met his', "we may know if you are really the Musician if you can control it, the ark. Though, we must capture Cross first. He seems to be associated with the 'fourteenth' and may know something more than we do."

Everyone nodded at this. "Tyki," said the Duke, "continue training Allen with the akumas—bring as much as you think he can handle. Though, don't let him fight with an exorcist yet this time. Don't even show him to any exorcists. I want to keep his existence as a secret until I think it is appropriate to shown them Allen."

Tyki nodded and stood up. "I'll guess I'll see you later, brother Sheryl, Rhode," he said and turned to Allen. "Let's go, boy."

Allen quickly stood up, bowed to the Duke and waved goodbye to Sheryl and Rhode before trotting behind Tyki without saying a word.

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**Allen:** Five months later

Allen Camelot was standing in the middle of the forest, alone and was waiting. He knew they were heading here, he just had to wait. He will kill them all, destroy them. He liked seeing things get destroyed by his own two hands—or more specifically—his left hand.

It felt good, destroying. At first, he would have trembled at the thought of destroying people with stomach-churning ghosts floating up above them. But now, he can destroy them with ease.

Tyki liked to train him in—mostly—the woods and sometimes near towns where Tyki and his mining friends spend the night in the inn. Allen however, would sleep in the most luxurious hotels a town could have. He didn't have to pay, mostly, since most of the time the owners would be akuma.

This time, Tyki picked the latter. As Allen waited patiently for the level two akumas to arrive, he was pondering about the 'fourteenth' and Mana.

Those two were brothers. Didn't Mana say he loved him? Did he actually mean Allen? Or did he mean the 'fourteenth'?

Allen shook his head. _No_, he thought. _Mana loved me for who I was, not for who was inside of me_.

But then again, they could never know if he was really the player left by the 'fourteenth.' Not until they caught this Cross Marian. And from the looks of it, he could feel that this exorcist was stronger than the one he killed.

_Of course he'd be stronger_, he thought to himself. _I fought an exorcist without her weapon with her. And I almost died_. But then again, he did hesitate in killing the woman.

But he knew this time would be different. Should he encounter an exorcist one more time he will not hesitate in killing said exorcist. Tyki always said that to have fun, you've got to be evil.

Allen wondered if he could have a little fun too once in a while.

He heard a shuffling of feet, assuming it would be the akuma Tyki sent for, he headed towards it.

"Are you sure you know the way, idiot? We seem to be lost," said an irritated voice as the figure came closer to Allen's direction.

"Of course, I'm not, stupid! I'm sure this is where those other people disappeared, and see? There's nothing in here so I win the bet! Now give me those euros," he demanded to the bigger and bulkier one.

Both of the men were big, yes, but Allen didn't flinch nor did his eyes betray him and showed fear. Every inch of his body was relaxed.

The smaller one seemed to have noticed him and said, "Hey look! A kid! What's he doin' right here?"

The other one shrugged his massive shoulders. "I dunno. But he does look rich. You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" he asked, his eyes full of malice.

Allen frowned at them. He knew _what_ they were thinking alright. It insulted him that they think they could over-power him. They thought they could rob him? Allen smiled at the thought.

'_You've got to be evil to have fun.'_

His smile turned into a giggling fit.

The bigger would-be robber stared at him, looking slightly uncomfortable. The kid was going to get robbed and all he could do was laugh? _This kid's lost it_, the bigger one concluded.

The other one seemed to be oblivious to the bigger one's worries and began to clench his fists. "What are you laughing about, brat?"

Allen didn't stop giggling at the men. So men like them are so easy to tease, and Allen liked it. His giggles were enough to make the two men—even slightly—become unnerved.

"You're one messed up kid, you know that?" said the smaller one. Allen could see veins appear on his temples and his face was becoming an ugly shade of maroon.

"You… you…," Allen managed to speak and finally stopped giggling—though he was now grinning. "You actually believe you can touch me, human?"

The bigger one seemed to be smarter since he looked perplexed at the sentence. The smaller one, meanwhile, took the insult in and became angrier. "Who do you think you are, kid?"

He was about to step forward when he heard a slashing and splattering noise behind him. "Wha—?" he said as he turned around.

What was his companion earlier was now a puddle of blood. He screamed at this while Allen tilted his head to the side. "What's this?" he frowned.

It was a level three akuma. It's black armor gleamed in the sunlight. And it was holding a bloody, bulky human in it's right hand. "I was sent here by master Tyki to fight you, master Walker," it laughed. "And if you loose, I get to kill you!"

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There! And from now on you shall meet the character that I've been naking since I was a child! SPOTLIGHTS! Drum rolls!

Please meet my OC who will be accompanying you after my chapters, Mary Katherine~

Mary: Hello, hello! So now, shall I take your reviews in? You know, beautiful people are the ones that review the most.

Kanda: Che…

Mary: I'm not talking to you, Yu-chan. –Kanda shoots an angry glare- Now, if you want Yuuki-chan to continue with her oh-so crappy—

Yuuki: Hey!

Marry: —fan fiction, please do some _more_ reviews, thank you. And Yu and Yuuki-chan, please stop glaring at me like that. It's unsightly.

Kanda/Yuuki: WHY YOU!!


	3. Make you see your 'God'

Okay, so I've made another chapter! Please continue with the reviews, yes, they were highly appreciated~

Now, please I hope this chapter is good enough for you people!

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**Chapter Two:** Make you see your 'God'

"Kill me, huh," Allen said nonchalantly at the akuma while ignoring the horrified man beside him; his left eye was reacting to the akuma. The man ran the opposite direction from where the akuma was, screaming his head off in a not-so manly way. Allen activated his innocence before saying, "Not going to happen, akuma."

He lunged towards the level three.

"Tch," he muttered. What is Tyki up to now? Tyki knows that he, Allen, cannot win against a level three just yet. He had still a long way to go.

His left hand—now a sword-like laser blade—clashed with the level three's right arm. Allen tried to overpower the akuma to no avail. This was a hopeless fight, and he knew it. The akuma, as though he read some of Allen's mind, cackled and pushed Allen away which sends him plummeting into the hard ground.

Allen stood up. _The akuma didn't take advantage of that_…, Allen thought as he watched the akuma approach him slowly.

"My, my," he said, taunting Allen. "What's the matter, exorcist?" Allen felt a tinge of irritation. The akuma just called him exorcist.  
"Am I really that strong for you to handle? Oh well, time to eat," he said darkly as he lunged at Allen this time.

Allen prepared himself, ready to counter-attack the akuma. _As hopeless as this can be, I'll keep fighting,_ Allen resolved._ That is my promise to you, Mana._

Allen dodged the level three's attack by jumping backwards, while still in mid-air, he thought, _Cross Paling!_ As he thought of it, rod-shaped energy palings erupted from his hand and hit where the akuma is.

Dust and leaves were scattered in the air. There was another cackle of laugher. The akuma was laughing, "Do you really think that petty little toothpicks are a match for me? A level three?"

Allen felt irritation again, only this time it was stronger. But instead of looking angry, he laughed. The akuma had stopped cackling and—possibly—frowned. "What are you laughing about, exorcist?"

_Ah, the same effect as ever_, Allen mused, his irritation was somehow subdued by the akuma's reaction. _Revenge is sweet_.

Allen grinned at the akuma. "Oh, nothing," he said with a playful tone while shrugging. "I was wondering when I'll stop playing with you, akuma," Allen said not-so-pleasantly. _Okay, that was not wise_, he scolded himself.

The akuma wasn't laughing anymore; Allen didn't know whether to feel good or bad at this since the akuma _did_ stop it's irritating taunts and insults, but now it would go at him a full force. Allen prepared himself for an attack.

That akuma lunged at Allen again only this time, Allen could swear that the akuma was faster than the last. Allen blocked the akuma's punch with his claw innocence and countered that akuma's attack by making a slashing movement with his left hand. The sharp edge of his claw hit the akuma's belly and made a small scratch.

"Damn it…" he muttered while the akuma laughed again.

"You were saying?" he taunted before raising his right hand, pointing it towards Allen's left hand. "Want to see my special ability, exorcist?" it said. Allen frowned at this. Most of the time, an akuma's special ability is troublesome to him.

He tried to shift his weight forward but something tugged his left hand. It seemed to be stuck in something. Allen turned his head to see it nailed at a big tree. His eyes widened a bit. _When did he…?_ he thought.

He cringed when the pain came in. He felt his body go numb. This was—

"Dark Matter," the akuma finished for him, coming closer. "If even just one nail hits your limb it will paralyze your whole body in a matter of seconds." The akuma sighed. "I never knew you would be this weak… Did master Tyki not train you well? I thought he did."

Allen let out a strangled laugh. "Quite talkative, aren't you?" he said. "Didn't you say you'll kill me?" _Idiot_. Why did he say that?

"Yeah, I did," the akuma said, his hand rubbing the armor in his head. "But before I do that," a nail materialized in the air beside the akuma. "I'd like to retire that irritable left eye of yours," the nail pierced at Allen's left eye.

Allen couldn't help but scream in pain. His right and free hand automatically cupped his left eye. He could feel the warm blood oozing from his injured eye while tears flooded the other. As Allen took the nail from his eye, more tears streamed his right eye as he gasped in pain.

The akuma snickered at Allen's pain and help up a hand which was seething with Dark Matter. He cursed under his breath. _No! It's not my time to die yet! I don't want to die yet! I want to live!_ Allen's mind screamed, his emotions were filling him up with the desire to live. _I still have a job to do for the world! For the Duke and the Noahs!_

From this, Allen realized something. Didn't the Duke suspect that he, Allen, was a Noah? Even though if the treacherous 'fourteenth' was indeed inside him, surely he could control an akuma just like the rest of the Noah?

Allen thought back on how he had summoned the ark once before. He had wished something would bring them back home, and then it had appeared before him almost immediately. Surely it would be the same as this akuma?

_Think, think_, Allen urged himself mentally. _Think. Just give this akuma a command!_

The akuma struck before Allen mentally screamed, '_Stop!_' Miraculously, the akuma's attack stopped in mid-action. Allen let out a quick sigh of relief while the akuma didn't move or say anything.

So that Duke was right? He could control akuma! So this was Tyki's plan all along. Allen didn't know whether to feel happy or frustrated since he just lost his left eye and damaged his innocence but at the same time he could now control akuma.

This brought back Allen into realization; if his innocence is damaged then who will repair it? Surely the Duke would make the Skulls repair it, but would they? Innocence is the complete opposite of them. Allen shrugged the whole idea off. At least he was still alive.

"M-m-mas—," the akuma stuttered, still not moving. Allen looked up, ignoring the pain in his left eye, at the frozen akuma, looking perplexed at it. The akuma was shaking all over and something was sticking out from his armored chest. "Wha—?" Allen began.

All of a sudden, the akuma collapsed sideways to reveal a cloaked silhouette. Allen frowned. It was, he knew, an exorcist. The man's clothes said it all; black with a silver cross on his left chest. And he had a one-eyed, bat-like bird fluttering beside him.

Right after the akuma got destroyed; the exorcist immediately went to Allen's side and cupped his face to see if he was still conscious before asking, "Are you okay, kid? Don't worry I will—" He was cut off when Allen slapped the exorcist's hand off of his face.

Yes, Allen should be thankful that the exorcist had saved him from his terrible fate from the hands of that level three, but he would not allow the enemy to touch him one bit. Besides, the exorcist spoiled his happy moment on being truly one of the Noah. He didn't control the akuma to make it stop, this exorcist killed it. "Don't touch me," he said in a strangled voice.

Allen couldn't see the exorcist clearly since his vision was becoming blurry eventually it became black as he collapsed beside the tree, his left arm still stuck to it's bark.

"Kid!"

* * *

Rhode Camelot was sitting on top of a tree branch holding an umbrella with a design of a jack-o-lantern below it's tip, her dark-chocolate skin was cool in the shady area below the leaves of the tree, looking at the level three akuma that was going to hit her adopted brother. She frowned ever-so slightly.

"Tyki," she said to the man below her who wore a tuxedo. "Was it really necessary to let Allen-chan fight that level three over there? You know fully well that he still can't handle an akuma as strong as that, right?" she pouted to the man.

Tyki lit up a cigarette. "Hmm," he observed. "Maybe it _was_ a bit too much."

Rhode felt a tinge of annoyance and punched Tyki at the belly. Tyki let out a "Oof!" and choked on the smoke of his cigarette. "Well, order your akuma to retreat right now! He's going to kill Allen! Hurry!" she pointed to the direction where Allen was.

After he was done choking he held his hands up in defeat. "Hey, hey. Don't worry. I did tell the akuma to tell the boy that he'll get killed if he looses but I never actually said to that akuma to really kill him. Man, that hurt y'know?" he added, rubbing his throat.

With this, Rhode lit up, "So that akuma won't kill him? Tyki-pet! You should have said that before!" she perked.

Tyki sighed. "Don't call me that, please."

Rhode smiled mischievously and backed up a little bit playfully. "I'll call you whatever—" she stopped abruptly when she felt something. She felt _it_. Tyki felt it too; Innocence.

It was coming from where Allen is. Tyki couldn't feel the akuma now, either. "Damn…" he cursed as he saw the exorcist come to Allen, who was still stuck to the tree.

Rhode and Tyki knew better than to attack since the exorcist had a golem with him which means if ever he got attacked, he would contact the exorcist's headquarters. Those things are quite troublesome. And they were beside the town. If someone passes by, that someone would become a witness and it would be troublesome yet again if he told the Order before we get to said person.

They looked at each other before shifting into their 'white form,' their dark skins turned into white Caucasian ones, the stigmata that lined their foreheads disappeared and their golden eyes returned into its original color. Tyki put on a pair of tick glasses before approaching the exorcist and the now-unconscious Allen, who was being piggy-backed by the exorcist.

"Oh, no, uncle, look!" Rhode gasped while pointing to the surprised exorcist. Both of them rushed up to him. "Oh, no! What happened to brother! Why is there a wound on his hand? Why is his eye—?"

"Don't worry, miss," the exorcist reassured. "I will bring your brother to the nearest hospital. Now is not the time to talk."

Rhode and Tyki nodded. They helped the exorcist bring Allen into the public hospital and was thankful that the doctor that will aid Allen was an akuma.

Tyki stayed by Allen's side while Rhode went up into the exorcist's side. "Thank you for helping brother, mister," she smiled pleasantly. Oh, how she wanted to kill this exorcist right now. But no, she won't. She mustn't just yet.

The exorcist held out a hand. "My name is Suman Dark."

Rhode took it and sweetly said, "Ren Mikk." She slapped herself mentally. It was the best thing she could come up anyway.

"Now, Ren," Suman said. "Your brother is a very special person. He is an apostle of God."

_Hah, like I didn't know that, exorcist. About your fake god, you fake apostle_, Rhode snorted mentally but pretended to look awed and interested.

"He will be needed by an organization called the Black Order."

She pretended to look like she realized something and crocodile tears streamed her eyes. "You-you're not taking him away, are you?" she asked, looking down. Sometimes these acting classes that the Duke let her take were pretty handy.

The exorcist looked taken aback. _Bingo_, though Rhode. She hit the mark, she knew accommodators were forced to become exorcists whether they liked it or not. She had discovered this man was one of them. If only she could—

"Please, don't cry, Ren," the man said, looking sad too. She was somehow reminding him of his daughter. She was reminding him how the Order forced him to be separated from her. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"_No! You are going to take him away, aren't you?_" she was close yelling now, her tears were flowing down from her chin as she slapped the man's hand away from her. Her turned around to leave but her hand was caught by the man.

"No, wait! Ren!" he said desperately. "I…I…" he said, hesitating. "I understand how you feel," he finished.

Rhode shook her head. "Then if you knew how I feel then…then—" she was cut short when Suman interjected.

"I won't bring him there, I swear. I don't want to break your heart…!"

Rhode stopped struggling and hiccupped. "Really?" she asked, looking up at the exorcist.

The man nodded. Rhode knew they had Allen back now; his existence was still safe from the other exorcists. They won't kill this exorcist just yet. They won't be the ones that would kill him anyway; it will be Allen.

And speaking of Allen, what about his innocence? What is to become of it? Only people of the Order know how to repair anti-akuma weapons. But maybe the Skulls know how to deal with this. Or maybe even the Duke.

After a while, after saying his blessings and goodbyes to Rhode and Tyki, Suman left to find more innocence.

Tyki wasn't allowed to smoke in the hospital but when the human nurses went away, he began to smoke again. "Hey, Rhode," he said. "How did you convince that exorcist to leave the boy alone? That's quite impressing, coming from you."

Rhode smiled playfully. "I used his weakness."

"Weakness?" Tyki asked, looking slightly interested. "What kind of weakness?"

Rhode looked out into the setting sun. It was beautiful. "Love," she answered. Tyki raised an eyebrow but didn't say a word.

They heard a groan from Allen. Rhode looked around to see Allen sitting up straight. "Rhode…Tyki… What…An exorcist…"

Rhode placed a hand on Allen's chest to let him lie down again. "We know, Allen. Just rest for now since you've gotten a new playmate."

Allen looked confused, "Playmate?"

Rhode grinned, "The exorcist that saved you from the level three. I wonder that would you like to do to him, hmm?" she mused.

Allen looked into her dark eyes with a glint of malice in his own. Of course, that exorcist. He will never forget it. He would like to return the favor of saving him, Allen, from the level three. Which reminds him…

"Tyki, why'd you send a level three to kill me? You knew fully well that I can't handle one in my level," Allen asked Tyki, who was sitting beside his bed.

The man laid his back on the back of his seat, still smoking. "I didn't order it to kill you, I ordered it to tell you he'll kill you. But I got wrong in estimating— _Ow!_" he gasped as Allen punched his stomach with his left hand. Tyki was left to choke on the smoke again while Allen grimaced at the sudden pain of his left hand.

"Jeez, what is with you people hitting me at the gut?" he choked while Rhode ignored him and came to Allen's side. She had noticed Allen's grimace.

"Does it hurt?" she asked in a worried voice careful not to touch Allen's left hand.

Allen let out a smile to reassure Rhode. "Don't worry, I'm sure the Duke or the Skulls would know what to do."

Rhode looked contented with this and asked again, "So, what _are_ you going to do that exorcist, Allen?"

The malice in Allen's eyes returned. "I'll make him see his 'God.'"

* * *

Yuuki: Okay, so that's it for now! I really do hope you liked it and— - Gets kicked out of the way-

Mary: Yuuki-chan, you do the writing while I do the hosting. Besides you're horrible at hosting. Don't deny it.

Yuuki: WHY YOU—!

Allen: Mary, I think you should try to be more kind and polite to others… Sometimes some people can do what they think they can't do—or what other people think they can't do.

Mary: Hmph. At least _I_ didn't think that I was able to control akuma that easily. – Allen's eye twitches- Now, please do review and give your opinions on how the story would come out through PM. But, mostly, reviews are highly appreciated. Hmmm, I was greatly surprised that people even review at all!

Yuuki: Heh, heh! Of course they'd review! I'm awesome!

Mary: I think I'm going to puke.

Allen: Eww…

Yuuki: That was a joke…


	4. Adding Fuel to the Fire

Yay! So managed to release another chapter! Enjoy~

* * *

**Chapter Three:** Adding Fuel to the Fire

Allen, Tyki and Rhode had just gone out of the hospital after a day of resting. Allen's left eye was still bandaged and so was his left arm, which was damaged by the akuma a day before. Allen felt good to be alive, but at the same time frustrated that he didn't get to kill the akuma. An exorcist saved him from his false would-be killer.

Allen grumbled at the thought.

He was still weak. To be saved by an exorcist that wasn't even who he was interested in. Cross Marian; that thought came to his mind. If he can capture the exorcist general then maybe that general was the key for him to become truly related to the Noahs and the Duke, to become truly one of them.

If only he was stronger… Allen's fist clenched themselves into balls.

It didn't matter if he still needed years of training. Whether it'd be twelve or thirty, he wanted to be stronger. He looked at his bandaged left arm and hoped that the Skulls would know what to do with it.

Or else, Allen will be useless in fighting. All those training with Tyki would be for nothing.

Tyki dropped Allen and Rhode off to their adoptive father's household and headed off to the inn where his human friends slept. This made Allen slightly disappointed since he wanted to train more; even though it's nearly past midnight.

The akuma maids gave him a fresh and clean set of clothes that Sheryl wanted him to wear. Allen smiled.

Sometimes you might laugh at Sheryl's antics but Allen felt warmth when he was with him. Sheryl was almost a lot like Mana… Mana always tried to make him, Allen, happy; just like what Sheryl is always doing now.

When Sheryl would notice Allen looking down or feeling lonely he would immediately come to his side and annoy him in a fatherly way like Mana.

Mana…

He fingered his scar, his curse, which he got from Mana. He would accept Sheryl but Mana would always be right at his heart. He knew that the Noah were now, too.

* * *

He was sitting in the sofa, along with Rhode who was playing with her non-human dolls. Believe it or not, but the girl liked having real people to 'play' with. Although, Allen couldn't figure out what exactly she did to them since she never told him what she did to them.

_Poor humans_, Allen thought at that time. It had only been almost a year since he got taken in by the Noah family, and he already knew since the start that Rhode was not the type of girl you would like to play with.

If he knew well, Rhode would have liked having an exorcist doll than a normal human doll. He was horrified, at first, at the thought that she wanted someone like him to 'break' but since she accepted him as her brother. _Hmm_, he thought. _Maybe I should get Rhode one if I'm stronger._

He smiled at the thought.

It would have been interesting if she got an exorcist doll. Maybe she'd even let him see what she does with them.

"Rhode?" he asked. "Where's Sheryl? I haven't seen him around since three days ago."

Rhode continued to play with her dolls. "Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you, Allen-chan. He has some trip to another country to sign a peace treaty so that Portugal would ceasefire."

Allen raised an eyebrow.

Rhode nodded. "He's going to ruin it so that we can make more akuma."

Allen slumped back in his seat. He wished he could have done something like that.

Allen got bored and went out into the gardens to try and kill the time since Tyki was coming to train his again. The smell of fresh roses lingered the air, and the green grass was pleasant for Allen's eyes—oh, wait—eye. His left eye was still bandaged even when it was already in its second week.

The akuma doctors were surprised that the eye was regenerating itself. But the progress was slow. They estimated that it would take more than a month for it to recover completely. This made Allen relieved.

Mana is still here—his curse is still here.

The injured innocence was 'healed' by the Skulls, but they placed a dark crystalline-like bracelet on it. It was made of Dark Matter.

They said that since they cannot completely repair or heal innocence then it would be useless in combat. Much to Allen's dismay but that piece of Dark Matter was fused with a little bit of magic to make it 'mask' the innocence, thus, instead of fighting with innocence, if the bracelet was worn, he would be fighting with Dark Matter.

Allen felt contended with the information that he could still fight, even without his innocence. Allen's arm was now looking like the same way it was again, only now it has a bracelet attached on it.

He passed by a few human maids, who bowed to him as he passed by, and proceeded to walk aimlessly anywhere he wanted to go to. No one would mind. He was the minister's son.

He heard a muffled bang from where he was standing. He gasped and ran to the source, ignoring the curious and frightened maids as he ran by. _This was not good_, he thought.

He continued to run to the source and grew more worried. The origin of the sound was in the room he left Rhode in, he also saw smoke coming out from it as he continued to run to it.

Rhode. He knew better than to be worried for the little girl since she was the eldest Noah of all the Noah, but he was still her sister. Adoptive or biological, he didn't care.

He stopped at the door, which was burned crisp.

_Who did this?_, he thought.

"Rhode?" he called out into the smoke which obscured everything.

"Don't worry, I'm still alive, Allen," her voice said, she sounded fine. Allen breathed deeply and slapped himself mentally. He underestimated Rhode; how stupid of him.

"Who—?" he was about to ask when a long pistol emerged from the smoke swiftly and stuck it on his forehead.

"So this is where you were," the voice of a man Allen didn't know who it were, but regardless, he swiftly jumped out of the way and activated his Dark Matter-infused innocence.

His innocence was looking like the same it was before. But the bracelet bubbled and spread itself to his whole left arm, the black surrounded the whole grayish-brown innocence, making it look like an armored cannon. What was green fire-like light that was erupting from his left shoulder were now dark purple flames.

Allen seemed to like it when it was the original innocence but he didn't need to pick, he needed to fight.

The smoke had almost cleared up now and he could see the man more clearly now. He was a man with long red hair that flied-away, some were covering his eye and the only thing Allen could see was a mask that had a closed-like eye with a long scar going down in his face. Allen mentally gasped as he saw the exorcist crest on his chest. It was golden, meaning he was a general.

"What the hell did they do to you, kid?" he asked. He couldn't make out what the man's reaction to his Dark Matter-infused innocence but it sounded like he was surprised. He smirked and looked at the exorcist coldly.

"What does it matter to you, exorcist?" he said in a mocking tone.

The man laughed. "Sounds like Fatso brainwashed you pretty well," he said, toying with his gun.

Rhode brushed this aside and snarled, "What do you want, exorcist? You've got a lot of nerve coming here alone," she said in a deadly voice that could have made the Jasdevi twins shiver. But the man looked serene and relaxed.

The man shrugged and airily said, "I'm taking this kid with me." He pointed to Allen. "Not that you will mind, anyway," he added.

Rhode was frowning, but otherwise, her whole body was relaxed. She tilted her head slightly. "I mind," she said as candles materialized above her head; pointed, sharp, multi-colored candles. A door had also materialized behind her. _It's the door to her pocket dimension_, Allen realized.

All of a sudden, they were surrounded by the maids, the akuma maids. "In case you didn't notice, this place is full of akuma," with that, all of the akuma began to morph into a few level threes, most were level twos.

The exorcist smirked.

Allen readied himself. This exorcist seemed to know who he was dealing with. And did Rhode really convince that Suman Dark to not speak of this to anyone? Did he break his vow? He wanted to kill Suman more now.

If he did spill about him, Allen, then he will not hesitate one bit and kill that man.

All of a sudden, a barrier swallowed Allen up. He could feel it; it was innocence.

Rhode whirled around to him but seemed to be looking at an empty space. At first, since she was too startled to think clearly, she looked startled and outraged, but after a few seconds, she realized what had happened.

_Stupid man_, Rhode thought. _You think we don't know about that woman you're always with?_

This fact may be something the twins had missed but not for Rhode. Allen grinned at her composure. "You think this can fool us, Marian?" he asked.

Yes, this man was indeed Marian. That woman was proof that he is since he was seen with her. Allen didn't really know what that woman can do, but he _had_ to get out of the barrier, fast. He knew they were coming for their aid and he needed to delay the exorcist long enough for them to arrive.

Marian continued to smoke. "Guess that didn't work," he said quietly to himself. "Oh, well, I'll bring you there unconscious then," he resolved, pointing his gun and shot at Allen.

Allen dodged the bullet and the akuma attacked. Rhode's candles were coming to Allen to guard him of Marian's bullets which will follow him till it hit him. _Troublesome power_, Allen thought.

Many of the akuma were now dying and Rhode was urging Allen to get inside her pocket dimension. As Allen turned to run towards her, a bullet nearly hit hi face by a few inches and hit the blackened wall with a bang. He heard another bang behind him when the first bullet hit one of Rhode's guarding candles.

Suddenly, out of the blue, something painful struck Allen's left arm. He looked at his invocation with his Dark Matter-infused innocence is now deactivated. He was horrified to see it looking shriveled and some of it was falling apart.

_I'm so weak!_, he screamed mentally. _How can it be this way? Why does everyone need to protect me? I don't want to be weak! Innocence! I want to be strong!_

He gritted his teeth and stood still in his ground. This startled Rhode and he continued to startle her more when he took the crystal bracelet off of his left hand and looked towards the direction of the exorcist who was destroying one of the last remaining akuma.

_Is he going to betray us again?_, she thought, horrified. A bead of sweat fell down from her cheek. She shook her head. _No. I've got to have more trust in the fourteenth—I have to trust Allen._

She stayed put and watched intently as the upcoming bullets were still being countered by the candles and Marian and Maria was still busy with the akuma.

Allen contemplated on what happened in the past. Him, making Mana an akuma. The Duke, inviting him into the Noah family which he so accepted. Being adopted by Sheryl Camelot. Meeting the rest of the Noah family. Killing the first exorcist in his life—the first human life he took. That exorcist saving him and now this, another exorcist, but now this exorcist was trying to take him away from his family.

Exorcists are pitiful. The akuma are pitiful. _Humans_ are pitiful. He needed to destroy them all if he wanted to save them. A destroyer who can save.

So… it doesn't matter if it's a destroying machine or a baby. They all have souls; if they have souls then they need saving. Allen, the Duke and the Noah will be the one's who'll do that. _Destroy and_ s_ave._

Allen's hand began to throb and deform. _It's evolving?_, he asked himself mentally. He felt agitated. Maybe this could be the most awaited moment of his life. Maybe he could now destroy an exorcist.

All of these thoughts came into his mind when he felt the innocence. It was powerful. He could feel it in his left hand, even though it was hurting now that the bracelet was off and that it was falling apart from the bullet Marian had hit him with. The falling apart arm was now piecing back together again, like a jigsaw puzzle, to for into a slender black metal-like hand with long sharp claws for his fingers and a white cross at the back of his hand. A white cape with a fur hood surrounded him, attached to it was a silver mask.

All of a sudden, a voice lingered in his head.

'_Then I'll give you this power to destroy them, Allen_'

* * *

Mary: Thank you for reading that… Fanfiction… till the end! Please, Yuuki-chan needs your reviews so that she can improve in her writing skills. She's _so_ good isn''t she? –Smiles sweetly-

Yuuki: -Whispers to Lavi- She's just doing that because someone called her a bit**

Lavi: Oh, really?

Yuuki: Yeah…

Lavi/Yuuki: Poor Her…


	5. Reunion

Hi!~ Sorry for the rather slow update… Curse school! Exams, Intrams and Sem. Break is coming in fast and I've got to ready for our Talumpati—meaning oration—which is really frustrating.

CURSE SCHOOL!!!

* * *

**Chapter Four:**Reunion

* * *

Rhode Camelot watched the spectacle with mere awe. The whole room was in a mess. There was rubble everywhere because of the fight that was occurring and two people were standing on it, facing each other. The smaller and younger, Allen Walker, was frowning, his stark white hair was whipping his young face which bore a long, jagged scar across his left cheek to his eye which ended with his pentacle; his curse.

This was her first time seeing an innocence evolve since her last reincarnation. The boy's left battered arm—or should she say weapon—twisted and became deformed before eventually taking shape; forming into a slender black arm, clad in armor, a white cross on the back of his hand while his fingers became razor-sharp claws. A white hooded cowl appeared out of nowhere and attached itself into him, covering his left arm and shoulders. She had felt his innocence's power.

She shivered. It gave up a wave which had hit her and she had felt the sensation of being in pain. She had felt like dying.

Is that really the power of innocence? So then, if Allen's innocence was this strong, what about Cross's innocence? Rhode knew that Allen couldn't defeat Cross, a general, with his power yet. Allen has still a long way to go.

She was supposed to protect Allen if any danger comes near him since this was the Duke's command and her own will. She had already grown fond of the boy. He was cute and adorable. _Like Tyki and daddy, if any exorcist comes near him, I'll…_

But she mustn't interfere just yet. She has yet to determine how long Allen could keep up with Cross; see how strong he has become with his new innocence.

She frowned at the smirking exorcist. He looked like he knew what he was doing. But the Duke and Tyki would arrive soon. They just have to stall since Allen looked like he wasn't going to back up any moment nor does the exorcist look like he wanted to let Allen out of his sight.

This exorcist is one of the most troublesome people that had opposed the Duke. He knows too much about them and about the 'fourteenth.' Coming here validates the fact that he was associated with the Noah after all. He would be a hindrance to the Duke's plans thus, making him one of the ones the Duke would have liked to be eliminated.

Killing him would make the Duke pleased since the great hindrance would be gone and he would make out his plans without worry. But she will have to protect Allen for now; the exorcist general would come in second since she cannot let him have the boy—the 'fourteenth'—back to the other side again. _All in good time._

* * *

Allen Walker stood on a pile of rubble, glaring intently at the exorcist general who was still smirking. He couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed. He knew that his innocence had evolved but it still wasn't strong enough just yet. The exorcist would just play with him until he got bored. Nevertheless, he will fight.

He already knew that Rhode's door was for the Duke and Tyki to make their appearance. He also knew that he had to stall for them. The Duke will be the one to capture or even kill this exorcist. _Why can't I be as strong as he is?_

It frustrated him to know that the power gap between him and the Duke was very large; he knew that all the other Noahs were still stronger than him too. He wanted the exorcist to be captured so that he would know if the traitor Noah was really inside him—implanted into him. He wanted to know whether his life as a real Noah would prevail.

He came closer to the exorcist; Rhode's candles were still hovering up above him, ready to protect the white-haired boy if he was attacked. _Thank goodness for Rhode's ability_.

The exorcist tilted his head to his side slightly, making him look menacing and said, "You giving up, boy?" He was, again, toying with his gun while the woman beside him was not moving an inch. How irritating was it to know that the exorcist wasn't serious with their fight.

Despite of his dislike for the exorcist, Allen smiled pleasantly at the exorcist. "No, but I will try and capture you, Cross Marian," Allen said ever so pleasantly. He halted as soon as he was close enough with the slightly intimidating exorcist.

The exorcist general grinned at him. "Yeah," he said, looking down with a mocking grin on his face. He looked up at Allen, who was only a few feet away from him now. "Not gonna happen," he said as he raised his innocence to point at Allen. He fired.

Allen swiftly dodged as soon as he heard the loud gunshot and immediately lunged at Cross, knowing the bullet would come back at him.

'_Edge End!_' Allen thought and as he did, a swipe of raw destructive power came from his left claw and charged to where Cross was. There was a deafening bang and smoke and dust billowed everywhere. As Allen saw a figure shoot out from it, _Now!_, Allen thought. '_Clown Belt!_'

All of a sudden, the cape of Allen's cowl was released and a webbing of Innocence-energy came out in a form of a white, strong cloth. It shot out from under his right wrist and successfully grasped the figure's left foot.

_Got you!_, Allen thought as he tugged at it. He felt pleased to see that it was the exorcist general he caught and readied his claw-like innocence; waiting for the right moment to strike.

He heard a bang behind him, he didn't even need to look at it as the bullet that Cross fired hit one of Rhode's candles; he was too eager to strike at Cross. As Cross came closer, still smirking, Allen saw that he was pointing his gun at Allen again, his right eye was closed to aim better at Allen's left arm.

"Tch," Allen muttered, he didn't back up. Cross was close enough to be hit.

Allen jabbed with his claw at the exorcist, who fired at him while at it._ 'Crown Clown!' 'Judgment!'_ The two powers clashed; innocence versus innocence. White versus white, God's crystal versus the other. Allen had to put all the power he's got to the single bullet that Cross had fired.

He didn't see Cross fire again, which he still aimed for Allen's left hand. One of Rhode's candles, thankfully, had blocked the bullet. But before the boy could sigh in relief, he heard a crack. He looked at his innocence, which had a small fissure in the middle. He gritted his teeth as another fissure was made in his hand.

So this was it? This was all his innocence—his power could do? He still had a mission from the Duke to accomplish! He can't loose just yet. He _mustn't_ loose just yet. He must not be captured by this exorcist.

He heard another crack and finally, his left hand gave up and was hit by the bullet. Unlike what had happened with his old hand, the claw-like weapon was still intact, though it had a few large cracks on it. He felt it being weak but it still could be used to fight. He glared at the exorcist.

"Are you okay, Allen?" asked Rhode in a worried voice, her candles were still hovering up above him, blocking the other bullets that keep on targeting Allen.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Rhode," Allen assured her in an airy voice, waving off his human hand to her. _Argh, even when my innocence evolved I'm still weak_.

The exorcist walked towards Allen, his gun still pointed to Allen's left hand. "I'll give you one last chance, boy," he said to Allen. "Come with me now or I'll drag you outta here," he threatened.

Allen said nothing. Is that exorcist general stupid? Or course he, Allen, won't go with him! The Noahs were his family! Besides, why would he want to join with the enemy of his family? This time, he glared at the exorcist. "Why would I want to go with you, exorcist bastard?"

The exorcist looked slightly surprised at this and it was quickly diminished by laughter. "That Fasto _really_ did do a good job at brainwashing you," he remarked, still closing the distance between them.

Rhode scowled at this while Allen frowned.

The exorcist pointed his gun at Allen again, this time wearing a serious look. "I'll finish this off in one shot," he said, alarming both Allen and Rhode. Allen readied himself for the impact since this would surely be the end of him if he didn't. Rhode's candles multiplied and an army of them hovered all around Allen.

The exorcist's serious demeanor faded as quickly as it came and grinned at them. And then, he fired.

Allen shifted his weight forward and lifted his left arm to try and counter the exorcist's attack. What was this exorcist thinking? Is he really serious about all of this? It looks like a game to him.

At this, Allen realized that the exorcist—Cross Marian—was close enough to the Duke. The Duke—when in his Noah form—thinks that all of this is just for entertaining him. How different the Duke is when he is in his human form! Allen quickly cast aside the thought for a while since he needed to be alert right now.

_Strange_, Allen thought. _Where's the bullet?_

The bullet. It was gone. Is this some kind of trick the exorcist pulled up? He heard a horrible thud behind him. He quickly turned around to see Rhode lying on the floor, her face in a fixed shocked look and a hole in her heart. "Rhode?" the boy asked shakily, forgetting the exorcist to look at his adoptive sister lying on the ground.

To his relief, Rhode got up again. She was grinning at the now frowning exorcist. "You can't hit me with that, general Cross," she said playfully, brushing the dirt off her back and skirt.

The exorcist scoffed. "I guess that didn't work," he muttered to himself. He really did want to take him, Allen, alive. Rhode grinned yet again while Allen smiled at her.

_She's really strong_, Allen thought with adoration. _I really hope I'll be as strong as her and be as useful as her._

"Are you okay, Allen?" she called over him. As he nodded in response, she turned to the exorcist general with a scornful look on her face. "That was really dirty move for an exorcist general like you, Cross," she said, her dark eyes only set upon the exorcist's brown orbs.

The exorcist scoffed yet again, but Rhode ignored this. "You have made me very angry, you know? This was my favorite dress," she told the exorcist in a deadly voice. The black eyes that were fixed on the exorcist slowly faded and became magnificent golden orbs. Her pale complexion shifted into dark, dead-looking gray and seven crosses lined her forehead, the one in the middle was bigger than the others.

The exorcist smirked at her; he began caressing his long and now tangled red mane of hair before responding, "Don't really care about that, brat. Now give me that bean sprout."

Allen took offence at the insult. 'Bean sprout'? Why in the world would someone call him that?

"'Bean sprout'?" Rhode asked, her eyebrows slightly rose upwards and her lips curved up slightly to form a thin smile despite of the rage she was emitting before. "I would have had a laugh about that if there wasn't the fact that you ruined my favorite dress, exorcist," she said, looking deadly again, her multi-colored candles hovered all around the battered room all of a sudden.

"I'm going to peel you alive and wear your skin as a new dress for me," she declared.

Cross looked at her with a look of distaste. "I'd rather let you not, brat," he said, raising his gun yet again.

Allen seemed to have forgotten the other bullets that were trailing him since Rhode's candles were still protecting him that he did not notice one of them had dodged Rhode's candles and hit Allen's left arm successfully.

Allen involuntarily howled at the sudden pain in his left hand. He cupped his left hand and bit his lip to try not to howl more; until another bullet got past through the Noah's candles and this time, it hit him squarely at the chest.

He gasped as the pain came through his chest as he fell to the ground, still conscious but only just. It became harder to breathe since something liquid filled his lungs; it hurt to breathe. He huffed and huffed, taking in labored breaths. Black blotches began to appear in the corners of his eyes, obscuring his vision. He could hear a familiar but muffled girl's voice calling out to him as the world became black.

* * *

Rhode had watched Allen fall into an unconscious state. She cursed under her breath and dashed to his side with a worried face. She scooped him up, making him turn into a sitting position. She looked at him, his face was looking peaceful, his eyes were closed and relaxed. But even so, he was hurt so much that he became unconscious.

She caressed his young face and hugged him. "You did your best, Allen," she said softly at the unconscious boy. Then, her soft and gentle demeanor quickly shifted into a vague and distant one, she appeared to be looking at nowhere now, "You are a despicable man, Cross Marian. You have invaded my home and hurt my family," she said.

Strangely, Cross said nothing at this.

This is why she hated humans—exorcists—innocence. They do nothing but to destroy the main purpose why they, the Noah, were here. They are nothing but a hindrance to God's Will. They are greedy creatures that do what they want to do, they think they can escape from Death by recruiting other humans, making other humans think they are the Apostles of God—but they are nothing but Apostles of a fake God. They think that as long as they continue to destroy Akuma, there will be 'peace' in the world. The word 'peace' is nothing but a lie. Their whole lives are a lie.

But the exorcists chose to ignore that lie and try to continue living in that lie.

She hated them for choosing to be ignorant. Just as she was about to ready her pocket dimension, she saw Cross point his gun at her. She frowned.

This time, while his gun hand was pointing at her, on his other hand, his elbow was raised to his ear-level. _'Judgment!: Arrow of Original Sin!'_ all of a sudden, a demon-like bow and a cross appeared on top of it. Before he let go, he half-smirked, half-scoffed. After he let go, there was a certain force that formed a circle to where he was standing, the rocks near him crumbled and the innocence bullet was now heading towards Rhode.

Rhode was too late to react. She was usually not this slow in reacting; did conjuring up those candles took too much of her energy? She knew that if Cross doesn't know of her true form, Cross can't kill her. But what if he did? She cannot move since Allen, even though he's only twelve, was too heavy for her. Was there no hope?

She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, readying herself for the possible impact of his attack.

She waited. And waited. But Cross's attack never came. Instead, there was a bang and dust and smoke were scattered everywhere. "What the—?" she asked as she saw two figures were in front of her and Allen.

"Wow, this place is a mess. Looks like Cross really did you, Rhode," said a rather familiar voice in front of her. The dusts settled down enough to reveal Tyki Mikk and the Duke of Millennium standing in front of her. They both had their backs on the two children, facing the exorcist general.

"Cross Marian," said the Duke, his fixed smile looked almost goofy but deep down, Rhode knew that in his voice that it meant that he was 'angry'. "Nice to meet you again," he said at the leering exorcist.

* * *

Mary: Hello, everyone –smiles sweetly- nice to meet you all!

Yuuki: Reviews! We've gotta have more rev—

Mary: Enough of tha—I mean, -smiles sweetly again- Yes, like Yuuki said, reviews. Ha, ha, ha, ha.

Yuuki: -Shivers and whispers to Miranda- Ever since that reviewer told her she was a *BEEP* she has been acting like this… She gives me goosebumps!

Miranda: -Looks at Mary- I think you may be right—oh! Wait! She's looking here! _Oh, no what are going to do?!?!_

Mary: What are you two _lovely_ people talking about?

Miranda/Yuuki: _EEEEP! Nothing! Just talking about reviews! Reviews! Ha, ha, ha!!..._

Mary: Huh, okay. And speaking of which, please tell us **who's pairing you would like to see** since Yuuki will be doing a _huge_ time skip in the following chapters. Please, no. She doesn't like—

Yuuki: No offence.

Mary: —**yaoi** nor **yuri** pairings. Boy/Girl relationships please or you could say 'No pairings'! Though, she much prefers the latter…

Yuuki: Remember! Reviews!!~~


	6. Escape and Awakening

Disclaimer: I do not own -man. It's Katsura Hoshino's.

I HAAATEE YOU SCHOOOOOLLLL!!

* * *

Chapter Five: Escape and Awakening

"Rhode," said the relaxed and serene Noah to the other one who was carrying an unconscious white-haired boy in her hands. "We'd better go now, the Duke will take care of this," he said as he took the boy from her hands and carried the little one using both of his own hands. Allen's blood dripped on Tyki's neat tuxedo, the wind was billowing his wavy, shoulder-length black hair. If you were a young woman, you would have taken captive of his appealing façade and dark skin. He didn't take his golden eyes off from Allen's left arm which was—miraculously—healing.

_Interesting…_, he thought.

Rhode nodded in response, though, she seemed to have noticed it too but chose to ignore if for now. She stood up with the other Noah and glared at the exorcist general before she turned to go to the direction of her portal door. All she wanted to do now was to get her brother to safety.

The exorcist frowned at this. Fatso came a little too early, he should've took the boy when he had the chance. The Fatso's appearance means that his plan would fail. As though the Fatso had read his mind, he chuckled softly, his pince-nez spectacles glimmered as he tilted his head menacingly. His ever-smiling mouth revealed two large canine teeth, he waved his umbrella with a jack-o-lantern as a design near the tip. As always, he had a round figure with a coat and top hat. This time, his hat's decoration had candles of different sizes and colors. _This Fatso's really messed up for wearing something like that, _the exorcist always thought whenever he saw the fat guy.

He mentally punched himself for being too ignorant. Nevertheless, he would still try now. Those lackeys of that Fatso are corrupting the boy, who has the memories of the 'fourteenth' in him. The 'fourteenth' had this all planned out, he, Cross Marian, was supposed to take the boy in as soon as Mana Walker died. But he didn't.

Cross thought about what he was doing at that time. It wasn't his fault the lady was beautiful and sexy! He mentally punched himself again. That Fatso took an interest to the boy and took the boy in before the redhead—he—could even have a chance to talk. How irritating.

He pointed his gun at the two retreating Noahs and fired his bullets, one after the other, and in a matter of a second, the chambers of Judgment—his Innocence—became empty. The ground he was on formed a circle around him because of the force of his shots and dust scattered all around him. His exorcist cape spread out and his hair became tangled again because of the force itself.

But he wasn't paying attention to that; he was looking intently at the bullets that were following the two Noahs. There was a loud bang and the pile of rubble from where the Noahs were standing crumbled to pieces before a white blinding light came to view. Cross Marian shielded his eyes from it.

As the light, dust and smoke settled, he wasn't very surprised to see the three—or rather four—of them alive and well. He cursed under his breath. This seems hopeless for him to be even here right now. He should withdraw and get the boy some other time. But he must get the boy while he is still young and uncorrupted. If he doesn't, the boy would grow up _exactly_ like a Noah. Sadistic, heartless, vicious, brutal, inhuman, almost anything despicable you could ever think of.

It was quite ironic that the little Noah brat called him 'despicable' when she herself is the one who is despicable. The one she calls 'family' kills, murders, slaughters innocent people for their own fun. They use Akuma as weapons and when they get bored they tell it to self-destruct, sending the soul to Hell. How despicable!

Fatso chuckled at his attempt, in response; he leered at the ever-grinning 'demon' spawn. "I do not appreciate you attacking my family, Cross Marian," he said in his poisonous-sweet and polite voice. Cross smirked at this but said nothing thus, the Fatso continued blabbing, "As much as I would have liked to eliminate you here, I must retreat with my family to our home. Now, if you would, Cross Marian, I would like to meet you again but some other time."

At this, Tyki smirked while Rhode managed to smile mischievously before entering the heart-shaped door—or more preferably portal—to their escape, leaving him with the Fatso, who was still holding the umbrella with him. It did not take long before he noticed that the Fatso's hands were glowing in a purple light. He smirked.

"Funny," he said. "I thought you said you were retreating?"

Fatso chuckled at this. "Might I ask you, Cross Marian," he began; the dark purple light took in the form of purple flames now, "You carry the Will of the 'fourteenth', don't you?" his voice was deadly sweet.

Cross raised his gun to point it at the other. "I don't have to answer that, Fatso," he replied before firing his gun. He knew it was useless to do so. His attacks would be just countered easily by the Noah. But he is using it for his escape. _'Grave of Maria!'_ he mentally shouted before the bullets caused an explosion. He became engulfed the invocation of the corpse he's controlling.

He _will_ get the 'fourteenth' back no matter what.

* * *

Tyki Mikk watched over Allen at the king-sized four-poster bed which was originally Rhode's bed. Rhode said she didn't mind Allen lying there but of otherwise, he, Tyki, would have placed him there anyway. The poor boy, he had to take up as much damage as to that extent. It was a very good thing to have Akuma at their side since as soon as they arrived an Akuma doctor and three Akuma nurses were ready to heal the injured and unconscious boy.

Thankfully, the innocence bullets which had hit him at his whole body were gone as soon as it did. So they only had to bandage the wounds up. His whole body was practically bandaged; his forehead, his whole chest, his whole right arm and his knees and feet. The bandage that was on his left eye was damaged and had to be replaced. But, more thankfully, his left arm was in perfect condition. It had healed all by itself when they got there and by instinct, destroyed all the akuma in room almost right after it healed.

But over all, he wasn't in critical condition but only unconscious. _And speaking of his innocence_, he thought.

It had evolved again. He wondered whether Rhode had felt it too. The unpleasant feeling when it did. The feeling of being ripped apart into two; the feeling of dying. The way it evolved was splendid, but then again, it was the exact opposite of him. It was the exact opposite of Dark Matter. But then again, if the 'fourteenth' was really this boy, what would happen if he awakens? Would the innocence reject him? Even though he did betray his own brethren, he is still a Noah. Was it possible for black and white to fuse together? To create gray?

Rhode bade him goodbye as the Duke, in his Noah form, came in. It seems that there is a new Apostle showing up. Not that he cared much about the other Noah anyway. But then again, maybe he did.

He sighed.

It was tiresome to think. For him, anyway. He turned to look at the peaceful looking boy again. _Ah, it's at it again._

He took out his cigarette and placed it into his mouth. "You wouldn't mind, now would you?" he asked aimlessly at the unconscious boy as he lighted it and began to smoke. He laid his back on the chair before closing his eyes.

After what seemed to be minutes, Allen began shuffling into different directions, as though he was in a dream. "Ah… No…" he moaned while trying to spank the air around him. "Don't hurt… my family… you… exorcists…" As the little boy said it, Tyki couldn't help but grin at Allen despite that the boy was, obviously, having a nightmare. _No, no…_

He was grinning at the fact that the boy called them, the Noah, as a family. Somehow, he felt warm inside just like he felt when he was with Rhode at times.

He laughed at himself. Was he actually getting attached to an accommodator of the innocence? The sole enemy of the Duke? Was he getting soft with this boy, who was possibly the carrier of the 'fourteenth's memories? Maybe he was.

He chuckled and laid his back upon the chair. _This boy is really interesting_, he thought as he closed his eyes before drifting off into sleep.

* * *

It had been already two days since Allen was unconscious, but Rhode stayed by his side ever since he was in that state—except for when the Duke had to go and retrieve the newest recruit, Skin Bolic. The one with the memory of 'Wrath'.—but apart from that, Rhode stayed in his room, only to take in the food the Akuma maids brought in.

She giggled whenever an Akuma did come in since they would try to keep their own distance from Allen's left arm, which automatically destroys them if they came close enough.

This time, she wore her own _new_ favorite dress; it was a white, long-sleeved blouse which, at the sleeves and at the end of her shirt, had a row of pointed but harmless cloth. She wore a frilly black skirt and black and white stripped leggings and a pair of black doll shoes. Her pale skin almost camouflaged with her clothes. She knew Allen would love to see her when he awakens.

She perked up at the thought and roamed around in circles in the room, thinking about what she and Allen when he does wake up. She'll show him around their Noah home, let him eat with them at dinner, introduce him to the family, there's lots to do now! _Oh, I'm so happy!_

Allen moaned a little bit and turned to the side where Rhode was and smiled.

Rhode couldn't help but squeal. Allen's so adorable! No wonder dad took him in as soon as the guy saw him. That little childish face could get through anyone! Well, if it didn't with a certain person, that person would be _evil_. All she wanted to do now was to cuddle Allen and never let him go.

Though, with people normally like Allen, she would have thought of 'breaking' them and make them into her dolls. But she didn't dare do that to Allen. The boy was her brother! It wouldn't be right for her to do that. Though, she'd much like an exorcist doll…

Her whole body wiggled with excitement when she thought of having an exorcist doll. She never had one in years—decades. She cuddled herself next to where Allen was resting to rethink the memory of her conversation with the Duke the night Allen was taken in the Camelot household.

* * *

_Flashback

* * *

_

Rhode was bored out of her mind, and was feeling slightly impatient at the time as she sat by the sofa with Tyki Mikk, her head rested on both of her hands while her elbow was resting on the back of the sofa. Her dead-looking complexion, golden eyes and the crosses that lined her forehead depicts that she was in her 'black' form. She rarely even used her 'white' form—only when she was in her dad's home or when in necessity; but apart from that, she was always in her 'black' form. The flames from the fireplace gave light to the gloomy surrounding that was in Rhode's dimension.

She swung her feet back and forth as she and Tyki, who was smoking at the time, were waiting for the Duke to arrive so that they can start their dinner. She sighed exasperatedly.

Where was Lero when she needed the umbrella? Lero was one of the things Rhode liked to play with since he wasn't—like other humans—easily broken. That's because he can't be broken. He shouldn't be. Where else would the Duke take his sword but from Lero?

There was a deafening silence between the two of them except for the ticking of the clock on top of the fireplace. _That's it_, she thought. _I can't take it anymore!_

"Tyki," she suddenly said making the older man on the other side of the sofa to be startled. "I'm bored. Let's play! Play with me!" she demanded in a playful tone whilst stopping the swinging of her feet and started bouncing on the sofa, making Tyki uncomfortable. "Awww, come on!" she pouted at the other Noah who remained passive.

As Tyki started to feel annoyed, Rhode felt ecstatic when she saw his reaction. It was really fun to annoy Tyki.

"What is it this time, Rhode?" he asked, exhausted at Rhode's antics. It was never good when you try to 'shoo' Rhode away when she has nothing to do; she'll only bother you more if you did that.

As Tyki asked, Rhode smiled mischievously. She thought for a moment, looking up, her eyes squinted a little bit, her brows furrowed while she held up a finger under her lower lip. Finally, after a few seconds, her face lit up.

She looked at Tyki with a glint at her golden eyes. _Oh, no…_, Tyki thought. _This can't be good_.

Rhode came closer to Tyki. "Pretend to be Lero, Tyki!" she demanded at a Tyki, who looked taken aback.

"When you say pretend to be Lero, you say I should talk like him? No," Tyki answered. Rhode shook her head at this. She pointed at Tyki while saying, "No, I want you to let me ride on you!"

"_What?_" Tyki asked in a loud voice while moving back. "Why should I even let you ride on me? Besides, my clothes would get dirty, so it's a big no."

Rhode pouted. "Aww, Tyki's no fun at all!" she whined. But just as she was about to add to her sentence, she was cut off when a rather familiar voice behind her spoke up.

"Good morning, children,"

Rhode quickly turned around to see the Duke, in his usual attire, standing behind the sofa. She ran from Tyki to the Duke to welcome him like she had never seen him in a thousand years. "Duke!" she shouted playfully as she jumped at him to hug him. "What took you so long? It's boring without Lero 'cuz Tyki won't play with me!" Tyki looked at her, feeling slightly exasperated.

The Duke merely chucked at this and patted Rhode's head. "There, there. I was very busy at that time, Rhode-dear," he said.

Rhode looked up to the Duke, there was a slight twinkle in his eye behind the pince-nez spectacles he always wore. This was the time when she noticed the Duke was holding someone on his right hand. It was a boy; he was sleeping, cuddling the Duke's shoulders. Strangely though, he had white hair, at a closer inspection, she saw that he had a terrible wound, which was covered in blood, at the left side of his face.

_I wonder how his blood would taste like_, she thought to herself. Then she noticed _it_.

The green light that the cross embedded to the boy's left hand flickered. Innocence. She squinted at the boy before asking, "Who is he? What is he doing here?"

The Duke, as usual, chuckled. "This little boy may be _that man's_ 'Musician', Rhode-dear," he said. "He tried to resurrect Mana Walker," he answered to Rhode's and Tyki's perplexed looks, which later became serene at the revelation. _The 'fourteenth' huh…_, Rhode thought. No matter how much it hurt, she would have never—

"So?" Tyki asked, breaking Rhode's concentration. "Why didn't you kill him?"

The Duke turned his head to Tyki's direction before saying, "He may be a great asset to the war. I know he will be," the Duke patted the boy's head as though he was his own. _What is the Duke thinking?_, thought Tyki.

The Duke noticed Rhode's and Tyki's dissatisfied expressions and waved a hand—his free hand—to them. "But don't worry, don't worry!" he reassured. "When we gather enough of the Noah, and train this boy to be strong, we shall start moving." Rhode lit up at this while Tyki rested his head on to the back of the couch, looking tired and bored.

"If so, then I could have more dolls! And maybe this time—an exorcist doll!" she waved both of her arms as if to fly. As she said it, she seemed to remember something and looked at the sleeping boy at the Duke's hand.

As if reading her mind, the Duke shook his head and said, "No, Rhode-dear. You cannot make this young boy, Allen Walker, into one of your dolls," he ordered, much to Rhode's dismay.

She put a hand to her chin. "So Allen's his name, huh…," she trailed off, Tyki felt he heard Rhode say the 'Allen' part a little bit too fondly. "Why can't I make him into a doll, Millennie?" she asked, curious.

The Duke chuckled—again. "That's because, starting today, Allen will be a part of the family."

* * *

Allen was still sleeping, his soft breaths was almost muted by Rhode's humming, now she was on the floor, playing with one of her favorite rag dolls. She was clearly not having as much fun as she usually had when Allen or even Tyki was around. Tyki was with his mining friends—though, she could never guess why Tyki chose to let those humans live.

She swung and swung the rag doll back and forth, imagining that in the future, this rag doll would not be a mere doll but a pretty exorcist doll. She smiled at the thought.

She was interrupted by the moaning on the bed. It was Allen. She quickly got up from the floor and excitedly went to his side. Allen's finally waking up! Finally! Now, she could play with him and they could maybe play together! Her heart swelled up at the thought. All she wanted to do was to see Allen finally wake up.

The sleeping Allen now slowly opened his silver eyes and blinked a few times. Rhode couldn't help but to hug him tightly—which she did. "Oh, Allen! You're awake, thank goodness!" Allen gasped from the sudden pain from his ribs and was suffocating from Rhode's embrace. He was very thankful when Rhode finally let him go.

He rubbed his head a few times before saying, "Umm, mind me, but who are you?"

* * *

**Yuuki:** Hey, Mary? Please don't interrupt me just yet! So, I read, and I read some fanfics and I knew what _'cliffhanger'_ is from the dictionary. Yes, I know the definition but I'm not sure whether I'm putting in cliffhangers at all! Please, can you please tell me how many and which chapters I've placed these cliffhangers on? Pretty please?

**Mary:** Okay, so please review yet again, and I won't put up the scores on the pairings.. Though, I saw that someone voted Earl/Allen and I'm sorry but that pair cannot be tolerated since the Count is a man and Allen is a boy. Sorry if this will disappoint you.

**Yuuki:** Wow, for the first time, you're being nice! Just like Rukia-nice!

**Mary:** Of course I'm nice! Nya-ha!~

**Lenalee:** I think Mary-san is nice too. ^_^

**Yuuki:** I won't put –san, -kun (etc.) in my fanfic anymore, by the way.

**Mary:** Err—Why not? –rolls eyes-

**Yuuki:** It seems wrong for English men to speak Japanese in their homeland (Or other places even Japan). So I dropped it.

**Mary:** Hmmm, she needs someone to criticize the characterization too. Just to make sure that she doesn't get the characters wrong. And she'd pretty much like predictions coming from anyway, Yuuki _sucks_—

**Yuuki:** Hey!

**Mary:** —at jokes since she's normally a serious person, am I correct? –gets a nod from Yuuki- So when she tries to be funny at all, try to laugh.

**Lenalee: **That wasn't as nice as it sounded, Mary-san…. O_O

**Yuuki:** …Oh, and by the way, please, I suck at the title and summary… If there's an angel out there, I'm calling out to you!!


	7. Kidnapped

_Here ya' go guys! __And happy New Year! (This is my gift to you!)_

_And just one more thing...  
**I really hope that if you read this fic, you would review…** (So I'm not wasting my time writing this? 8 3)  
I'll give you some of Link's delicious pie if you do. 8 D  
Next chapter would be out soon. If I keep writing it. But anyway,_

_**Enjoy~**_

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Six: **Kidnapped

Allen Walker rubbed his head a few times before asking the girl, "Umm, excuse me, but who are you?" As he asked, he couldn't miss the girl's eyes widen, fear came into view from them and her brows furrowed at the process. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She was in total shock.

At this, Allen couldn't help but snicker; he crouched slightly and put his right hand over his mouth to prevent himself from laughing out loud. _Okay_, he thought. _Maybe I did take it a little too far_. The girl didn't look shocked this time, but now, she looked confused, seeing as her brows furrowed even more and she sent a questioning look at the white-haired boy, who was at the brink of tears for trying not to laugh.

"Why are you—?" she started but was interrupted when the door opened to reveal Tyki Mikk, in his usual tuxedo, dark complexion and golden eyes, getting inside the room. Smoke that emitted from his cigarette went inside the room along with him, as he nonchalantly went to them, not knowing as much as Road. "Oh?" he asked, his eyes slightly widen and his eyebrows rose up when he saw Road hugging Allen, though, even when he was in the room, the little girl did not let go of her hug to the boy. "I can see you're awake, boy," he said as a greeting as he went beside the bed.

Allen nodded in response while smiling, which made Road even more confused. She detangled herself from Allen and shouted, "What is going on? I really don't get what the hell is happening here!"

Tyki shot her a confused look while Allen smiled sheepishly and rubbed his hair, making him look even more sheepish. "Err, that was just a joke, Road…," he explained hesitantly and quickly added, waving both of his arms as if to wave off her half-confused, half-hurt look, "but I didn't really mean to hurt you!"

It took a while for Road to register what Allen said into her mind; and when it did, her hand trembled from rage and she gritted her teeth. "Just…a…joke?" she asked, her head bowed low, obscuring her now-pissed off look. Oh, she wanted to hit something; anything. But she won't hit Allen, she _can't_ hit Allen. Automatically and involuntarily, her hand jabbed at her right side to hit Tyki at the stomach. "You should've told me that sooner, Bean Sprout!"

Tyki gasped, "Oof!" And then, he choked on his smoke—again. He clutched his throbbing stomach and let out painful coughs. Road and Allen however, ignored this.

There it was again, the word 'Bean Sprout'. Allen couldn't help but twitch in annoyance. Why are they calling me _that_? "I'm not a bean sprout! And my name's Allen!" he whined at the girl. "And I told you I'm sorry!"

From his reaction, Road grinned mischievously. Well, at least that's one way of getting back at him. She liked the word; that's why she wants to keep it. And it suits him very much. She put her hands behind her back and shouted, "I'll tell the Duke that you're awake, Beanie!" After that, she disappeared through the open door, leaving a choking Tyki and an annoyed Allen.

"_My name is Allen!_" he shouted after her, but he knew well that Road won't ever stop calling him that hideous nickname. He grumbled at this and saw Tyki, who was still coughing and wheezing, on the ground on his fours. He shot the man a questioning look, "What are you doing there, Tyki? Did you choke on your smoke?"

As the man finally stopped coughing, he let out an exasperated groan. "Ya' think?"

* * *

Allen sighed exasperatedly as Sheryl Kamelot cried loudly on his bed sheet. The man has been crying loudly every since he went in Allen's room, wrapped up in bandages all around. The Akuma that was with him was all emotional too, saying that this was all heartwarming. Allen was even surprised to hear that from an Akuma.

Nevertheless, the man still kept on weeping, and blaming Tyki for his injuries for not being there for the boy when the boy needed him, much to Tyki's annoyance. Right after that, Tyki left the room all to Sheryl's weeping, much to Allen's annoyance. He was actually happy when the human Earl, Adam, came in to take a good look at him. Allen swears—Adam looks a lot like Mana. But Allen dismisses the similarities with his adoptive father, thinking it was just plain coincidence. And just thinking of Mana makes him feel sad.

_Look at where I am now, Mana_, Allen thought, as if his thinking would reach Mana himself, wherever his late adoptive father is_. Even though Sheryl's the complete opposite of you, I've got someone who loves me like you love me. I wonder if it's okay with you if I consider him as my father_…

"Allen," says Adam, looking sincere but ever-so-slightly showing a hint that he's happy. He patted my head softly. "You are one brave boy, I have to say. Fighting off general Cross Marian like that."

Allen swelled with honor and pride. The boy smiled happily at this, knowing that he now somehow have a place at the Noah family. Even if it's just a little, but being able to help the Duke makes him happy enough. "Thank you, Duke," the boy humbly said despite what he was feeling.

Adam let out a sigh and sat by Allen's bedside and beside the still-sobbing Sheryl. Allen gazed up at the tall man, looking innocent. Adam smiled gently and patted Sheryl's back. "But Allen…" Adam said, to this, Allen immediately gave his full attention to the Noah. "When you think a situation is too hard for you to handle, it's not bad to run away, you know."

What is he saying? "Why, Duke?" Allen asked simply, looking up at Adam.

Adam smiled ruefully. "That's because it would have taken your life, you know. It would have made up sad—especially Sheryl…" Then the Duke hugged him gently. "You are our family."

* * *

**Allen:**

**Fourteen years old**

_Chicago, USA_

"Urghh!—Road—we are not going in that place just to buy candy!" muttered Allen, who was being dragged by Road towards a candy shop. The whole place was full of these colorful lollipops and candies, and Allen felt—you better believe it—almost queasy just going in there. Why? Because ever since Allen recovered from Cross's attack a couple of years ago, Road started to bring him some candy. At first, it was okay. Considering candy was sweet and it somehow made his day in the bed, but then, she began to shove it down his throat—even if he doesn't want to.

"But, Allen!" Road whined, but still tried to pull him through the door. "Candy makes you stronger! Even Skin likes it now! Candy is good for your health! And I didn't bring you to the candy capital of the world for nothing!"

"Oh, for the love of—" Allen exasperatedly half-shouted, but he cut his own sentence. Then he tried to make his voice low and as clam as possible. "Road, candy is good, I know. But some people just don't like being overdosed by it, you get me?"

Road pouted and furrowed her eyebrows. "But you eat everything else as much as thirty people could! But why not candy? I think candy is the best food anyone could have eaten!"

"Okay, okay, Road," said Allen, waving his arms up and down. There's no stopping Road whenever she likes something. You just have to give in to her, and you'll be alright. So Allen went inside the local candy shop with Road. Though, he didn't buy anything for him; Road did.

Just when they were about to go back to the entrance of the ark, something, or rather, someone caught his eye. There were two people; each wearing a black cape that run down to their elbows. They were a red-haired boy and a dark-haired girl, both were on the street, walking. As Allen observed them more, he found out that the cape had a Rose Cross embedded into it.

He motioned to Road, who looked at where he was looking with mild curiosity. She let out a gasp of delight as she saw the two Exorcists walk past past them, unknowing of the danger they were both in.

* * *

Lenalee Lee walked with the obnoxious redhead throughout the streets of Chicago. Even though it was very far away from her home, the Black Order, she was dispatched here to meet with the Finders, who think they've found out there's Innocence nearby; only they couldn't really find it somehow.

"Hey, Lenalee," said the redhead, putting both of his hands behind his back while he walked with her. "Do you really think it's Innocence? I mean, even though the Finders said that some of the townspeople did become missing, what's the point? Maybe it's just an Akuma."

Lenalee sighed. Even though her brother told her about it, he never told Lavi. Lavi was on a mission that day, and he came back the next day only to have another mission upon him. Might as well tell him. "I guess brother never told you the details."

"What details?" asked Lavi interestedly.

"Well, even though the missing villagers went missing, after a week or so, they always came back," said Lenalee, narrating what her brother said. She had a pretty good memory. "But," she said. "there's a catch." As Lavi raised an eyebrow, she continued. "Even though the people do come back, they always come back ain a murderous rage. They would kill whoever they encounter, and the police has to tighten the security." Lenalee then shivered.

"Oh," Lavi said, understanding what was at stake now. But this was too unusual. If this was Innocence, then why would it be abducting or mind-controlling people into murder? Maybe this was the work of a level two.

Even though Lavi had only become an Exorcist, he knows that the level two's all have unique special abilities. Though, he's never encountered one before. All of the time, he only saw level ones. So to him, it's most likely an Akuma. And when he explained his doubt to the pig-tailed girl, she just tells him off that the Finders know what they see and that she trusts them. _She has a lot of trust for them, huh_…

They passed by some toy shops, a few candy shops and, finally, they stopped by a pub of some sorts. The whole place looked deserted except for a few drunken people and, of course, three Finders on the far side of the place. They were waiting for the two Exorcists expectantly, and greeted the two. Then, they explained that most of the missing-and-returning people always came from the nearby canal. They also told Lenalee and Lavi that one of the Finders that were with them disappeared a few months ago when he was examining the canal all by himself—but he never came back. This was the time they contacted headquarters for backup. "Though, we didn't really expect not one, but two Exorcists to come… We will forever be in your debt!" they said.

Lenalee smiled. "Don't worry, we're here to help you." Lavi nodded his head at this to show that he's ready to help too.

"Lenalee, we should check that canal first. This is getting interesting!" said Lavi, clapping both his hands once and he put up a grin. "Let's go!"

As Lavi began to run down to the entrance to the bar, Lenalee looked at the other three Finders, waiting for them to come with her as they began to put on their Finder's equipment. Lenalee didn't really like the look of the equipment that the Order gives them because it looks so heavy! But if it helps them survive, then Lenalee couldn't be happier for them.

When they went out side of the bar, Lavi was already waiting for them impatiently and they went off to the canal. At the first impression of it, it looks quite normal. The water was murky green, there was green vegetation all over it and the air was cold because of both the night and the plants. Overall: Nothing bad has happened—yet. The Finders said that all of the missing people went missing only at night.

They split up into two, with Lenalee along with two Finders and Lavi with a single Finder, both of which will meet up after an hour. They could communicate with their golems. They can't afford to split up into ones—or else. And even though the whole place was normal, it was eerie. Lavi could have swore that he heard some snapping twigs behind the two of them. It made the hairs at the back of his neck stand up.

The two of them brought torches with them, but it was dark—very dark. After a few minutes, he heard anther twig snap again, but when he turned his head away, the Finder with him said, "Sorry… That was me…"

He let out a sigh of relief.

Just when he looks forward, he yelled and stumbled backwards to the soft dirt. It was a horrifying face, the strong shadows of it's face made it look more horrifying, it's white hair was dropping down to his face, and it's adding to it's look. But at closer inspection, it was just a face. A boy's face.

The boy smiled ruefully and rubbed his white hair—wait. White hair? How come this boy has white hair? Could it be that he's cursed? Lavi has read about cursed people's hair becoming white regardless of their age. So this boy is cursed huh… Wonder how that happened. Then the boy spoke up, "Ah! I didn't mean to startle you!"

Lavi lets out a heart laugh. "That's okay! And you know… you should be here. It's dangerous here; you should go home," he told the boy with a grin. The Finder with him nodded.

But the boy had the strangest smile when Lavi looked at him. It was the smile Lavi couldn't quite figure out… It was quite… sadistic? Lavi couldn't quite figure out. But he's gotta take note of the boy. White hair and—oh!—a long scar by his face. Poor kid. And he was wearing a gentleman's dress. He must be quite rich. And the boy didn't follow what he said to him.

Lavi sighed and said again, "Go home kid, ya' don't want to go missing don't ya'?"

The boy smiled. "Don't worry, Exorcist. Because _you're_ the one who's going to get missing."


	8. Kill the Puppet

Okay, so this is it!

_And just one more thing...(Again)  
__**I really hope that if you read this fic, you would review…**__(So I'm not wasting my time writing this? 8 3)  
45 favs… *Thinking of how many reviews I would have if 45 people review a single chapter* *Drools in the process*  
And this is me, advertising my other FanFic, Dreamer from Beyond. xD Please check it out._

_And remember, if you don't try your food first, you'll never know what it tastes like._

_**Enjoy~**_

_**

* * *

Chapter Seven: Kill the Puppet**_

"Urgh, my head…" moaned the redhead, Lavi, as he tried to clutch his stinging head. As his hand moved, he heard some kind of clinging sound and he couldn't reach his head. It was as if something was restraining his hand from doing so. Why can't I…?

He squinted his eyes to get a clearer vision since his vision right now was blurry. His face felt like someone burnt it because it was all stingy and it hurt—so does every muscle in his body. It hurt to move—he noticed.

"Ah! I think this one's stirring up, Allen!" he heard an excited voice say. It was a girl's voice, but he didn't recognize it.

Lavi's vision began to clear now, but his head was all jumbled and he didn't really register what he saw. At first, he saw red. Was it blood? At a clearer look, it was. He saw a red dark puddle of blood right beneath him. And when he looked at the restraints at his hands again, he saw that it was iron cuffs, and he was tied to the dark stone wall. And he saw at a corner lay his Innocence. It took him time to realize one thing: He was captured.

Then he saw someone's foot come into view. When he looked up, he saw the white-haired boy again; he saw that the boy was smiling the same sadistic smile he had before. "I can see you're awake, Exorcist."

And Lavi still remembered what happened before at the canal. The boy's hand just suddenly became claw-like and attacked Lavi and the Finder he was with. The white-haired boy killed the Finder with one shot, and he, Lavi, was just about to attack with his hammer using Fire Seal, but then someone hit him behind his head.

"You…bastard…" Lavi muttered under his breath.

"Allen, this one's mine," he heard the same girl's voice before. Slowly, he turned his head towards the girl's voice—and he saw an unconscious Lenalee on the ground. The girl was right next to her. Lavi couldn't help but feel angry.

The boy smiled. "Are you angry?"

_Angry? Of course I'm angry! What are you? Stupid?_ Lavi wanted to tell this to the boy, but his wounds and burns tells him otherwise. So instead, Lavi just shot the boy a dirty look.

The boy raised his brows and grinned in amusement. This only made Lavi think that the boy's psychotic. Why would you grin at someone who glares at you? Maybe this kid's an Akuma? He could be, but why hasn't he changed his form yet? Form… His hand… His hand changed at that time at the canal. But it doesn't even look like Dark Matter, it looked like Innocence. Why would a kid that has Innocence attack people? Maybe this kid's the reason why those people disappeared?

"Wh—why…" Lavi muttered in a low voice through gritted teeth, but the boy didn't hear him and asked him to repeat what Lavi said. "Why are you doing this? Aren't you an Innocence accommodator? An Exorcist?"

The boy just smiled and sighed. "I am an Innocence accommodator," he said softly as he turned away from Lavi to take a glance at the girl he was with. Then he said it in a low, hating voice, "But I never considered myself to be a low, pitiful Exorcist. That's that," he added with a shrug.

"And we are not Akuma," said the girl—much to Lavi's surprise. _How did she—?_ "We're human, dummy."

Just then, there was a sound of pounding on some kind of wood, then someone walked over and Lavi hear something like a door opening. As Lavi turned his head and winced in pain. Sometimes, he just wish he didn't feel pain.

Right there from the door was a pink umbrella, and by the looks of it, the umbrella didn't look too happy. "_Waaahh!!_ Mistress Road, Master Allen! What's this?! Why are you meeting with these Exorcists?! You two are supposed to be home studying! The Earl will both spank you!" It spoke in a high-pitched and annoying manner, but Lavi couldn't quite miss the important point out.

Earl? Did that umbrella say Earl? Did Lavi hear it right? He's only been able to hear it from the old panda about these people that actually work with the Earl to destroy the world. The Noah family. Are they Noahs? If so, then why's an accommodator with them?

"Nahh," said the girl, Road, confidently. "Millennie won't do something like that to me. I _am_ his favorite. Anyway, this won't even interfere with his plans."

_Plans? The Earl is planning something? This can't be good_… Lavi thought, gritting his teeth. Then he remembered their companions. The Finders. What happened…? "The…Finders… What did you do…?" Lavi asked with a struggle. It was hard breathing.

The boy smiled and raised his eyebrows and glanced at Lavi with his cold yet-amused gray eyes. "Oh, don't worry," Allen said as he slumped to the ground right next to the girl he was with. "I've already taken care of them. You should've seen their faces! They were terrified!"

"Shut up…" Lavi whispered softly. To think this happened… And that boy…It was like he'd done that a million times before. And he didn't care. Why did the Innocence choose a boy like this? Shouldn't he have already been a Fallen? He has betrayed what the Innocence stands for!

But the boy didn't seem to hear clearly, or acted like he didn't and kept going. "Did you know?" he asked, then Lavi told him to shut up again. "They were asking for help from you—screaming, I would say." _Shut up._ "The both of them were crying so hard…" _Shut up._ "It must be hard being a Finder, right?" _Shut up._ "Oh, sorry," Allen, the boy said almost apologetically before his face turned sadistic again. "Were they your friends?"

"_YOU SHUT UP!!!_" Lavi screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Allen," says Road, her tone almost playful. "You hurt his feelings! Poor him!" She was mocking him. _Wait 'till I get free from these chains and I'll rip you both to tiny insignificant pieces!_ Lavi thought violently.

Lavi gritted his teeth. They both pissed him off. Somehow, he's got to save Lenalee and report this to Komui. An accommodator working with the Noahs. Wait—what if this accommodator is a Noah too? But that's impossible! But recently, the impossible have become possible_. Right_, Lavi thought with a resolve. _I'll just make sure that both me and Lenalee get out of here and back to London._

"Well, Road," says the boy, who quickly gained the attention of Lavi. "You now have a doll. Mind telling me what is it you're planning on doing with her? There's another one there too," he motioned to Lavi and the latter growled at him. "Ooh! Feisty one aren't you?"

"Shut up," snapped Lavi.

The girl glanced at him with amusement. Then, she seemed to have an idea, her smile turned into a grin and her brows shot up. "Hey, Allen. I have an idea," says Road. This can't be good.

"Oh?" says an interested Allen. "What is it?"

"A game," says Road, her eyes glinting menacingly. "What about it, Exorcist?" she says to him, Lavi. "If you win against us in a game, we'll let you and your pretty Exorcist friend go," she said in an almost sweet way; then her voice changed into a low and dangerous one, "but if you lose, you're going to die. Well, maybe not afterwards you lose, but you get the point."

"Hmm, sounds good to me," Allen said, gazing up as if he was considering the idea.

Why are they asking him this? Couldn't they have done it right now? He, Lavi, is already powerless with these chains bound to him and yet they want to give him a chance at getting away? _I can't understand these people_, thought Lavi. But nevertheless, it's now or never. "Sure. Whatever. You'd better keep what you say, Noah."

"Oh, don't worry," says Road, enjoying herself along with Allen. Then he felt himself being set free, the one cold chain that bound him disintegrated into pieces before his eyes. _Was this Road's power?_ he thought. "This game would be not-so easy, but otherwise quite amusing for both of us siblings."

They're siblings? It doesn't look like it. They don't have any feature of them in common. Maybe they're adopted? Never mind about that! "What's your game, Noah? I want to finish this now," Lavi said coldly.

"Oh," says Allen, wincing. "Don't be so cold, Exorcist! Just have fun like we'll do!"

"Anyway," interjected Road, skipping to where Allen was and held his hand. "The rules are simple; if you survive this game, you win! And the game is called 'Kill the Puppet', by the way," she said with a giggle.

"Wahh!" wailed the pink umbrella. "You two! This is a very, very bad thing to do! The Earl will be mad at you two!"

Road grunted. "Shut up, Lero," she says. "I told you the Duke won't get mad at me or Allen."

"Yeah, Lero," agrees Allen. "Besides, it's been a while since I've seen an Exorcist."

Then the girl seems to have become tired of the conversation and said, "Anyway, here's the puppet you need to kill, Exorcist." Just then, something caught his eye, and he felt a strong blow to his stomach.

He was thrown backwards and painfully hit the wall behind his back. His hand automatically went over to the back of his throbbing head only to feel something hot and wet. It was blood.

"Urgh… What the—" he muttered as he tried to search for his assailant. He gasped as he saw her. Her eyes were somewhat vague of emotion. And as soon as Lavi saw her emotionless eyes, he knew she was being controlled. He turned to look at the Noah and the Innocence accommodator, who were grinning with amusement. "What is this?! Some kind of joke?!" he shouted at them.

"Do you really want to shift your concentration on us?" asks Road; then Lavi turned to Lenalee again, only to be kicked at the stomach again.

This time, he couched up blood and got thrown back into another wall again; and he couldn't breathe normally now because of the hard kick.

The girl giggled. "That's right, Exorcist. In order to be free from us, you need to kill her first!"

_**So? How was it?**_


	9. On the Move

Hey, guys! Sorry for the late update but I think this would be the last before another long update… I still have many, many things to do, and I have to think of my career since I'm already a 3rd year high school'er, and I have prom to worry about…. *pant, pant*

So that's it… And by the way, you all 61 people who have  
favorited this Fanfic, please do review it! Thanks!

* * *

**Chapter Eight:** On the Move

Lavi gritted his teeth as he sprinted towards the corner where his Innocence Hammer lay. He ducked as Lenalee tried to kick his head off aerially and rebounded to a wall and headed straight back at Lavi again. The seventeen-year old boy let out an "Argh!" as he jumped forward with all his might as soon as he ducked. Lenalee was fast with her Dark Boots, and Lavi knew better than to just lay around and do nothing. This was their chance at escaping. The green-eyed Lavi took the time to glance at the two spectators at the side. They were just… watching. Now that's weird.

"You shouldn't be looking at us, Exorcist, when you have her to look out for," calls out Road, her golden eyes gleaming with malice and amusement.

Lavi grunted as he heaved his body with al his might towards his hammer. He took the hammer and jumped away as Lenalee attacked on where his hammer was and left a large circle on the ground. Lavi let out an almost relieved sigh.

He got his hammer back.

He stood up, his eyes gleaming with determination. He held out his hand which held his hammer and mentally commanded the hammer to elongate; which it did. And no sooner, his hammer became long and larger enough to fight with it. Lavi looked over at Lenalee, who was just standing there for a reason. Her Dark Boots emitted its bright green light like it always did and reached up to her thighs. Then Lavi stole a quick glance at Road and Allen and reformed a plan.

He then lunged forward at Lenalee, lashing his hammer at the girl. She dodged it by running at a fast speed and Lavi knew this was his chance. He swiftly raised his hammer over his head and a few seals appeared around him. He didn't need to really think about it, he had to act fast before Lenalee could get at him.

'_Fire Seal: Configuration of Ash!_' he thought as he slammed it down to use it. All at once, fire erupted all around him from the seal that he slammed down. But he didn't feel the heat; it was supposed to be that way. Instead of being burned to a crisp, the flames shot up into the dark ceiling and illuminated it. But Lavi wasn't looking right there, he already spotted Lenalee out in the sky.

He gritted his teeth as he commanded the flames he conjured, which formed into a very large snake. The flame snake lunged at Lenalee; it opened it's large mouth wide and 'ate' Lenalee whole. Surprisingly, the girl didn't move an inch when she had the time, but Lavi wasn't concerned about that, he was much more concerned about other things. Lenalee will be out of here unharmed. _I'll make sure of that_, Lavi thought.

Even though the flames were all over Lenalee, Lavi could manipulate it to not burn her. But Lavi wasn't worried about burning her for the moment. The eye-patched adolescent had his eyes locked onto the two allies of the Earl; namely Allen and Road.

With a command from him, his flame snake twirled and lunged straight at the two spectators. The snake gobbled them up, though, Lavi thought that it was suspicious of them to not dodge it. Surely they could? Lavi squinted his eyes more to look at them, and to his surprise, they were grinning. And then he heard a horrible splattering sound at his left.

He turned his head quickly and saw Lenalee look like she was being burned badly.

"NO!" he yelled as he quickly turned his technique off. The flames seemed to flicker a bit and finally went out. Lavi turned his guard up and heard someone giggling. And then he felt it.

He quickly held his hammer up to block Lenalee's kick. The force of her kick made him take a step back, but otherwise, he blocked her attack and at a closer look at her, Lavi saw that she was covered with burns. His eyes widen, only to see her kick low to his knees.

Thankfully, he jumped backwards to dodge her.

Lavi gritted his teeth. _What's going on?_ he thought. Isn't Lenalee supposed to be the one who's not burned? Lavi stole a quick glance at Road and Allen and confirmed what he was thinking. The two weren't burned anywhere their body. A quick theory formed inside Lavi's head. Maybe if he attacked Lenalee then maybe they'll be the one's who'll get hurt? But what if this was a trap?

Nevertheless, he couldn't risk hurting Lenalee.

He disregarded the fact that Lenalee could catch up to him faster than he could execute what he was going to do, he lunged at her. Lavi swung his hammer upwards as Lenalee dodged it by jumping upwards herself and then headed straight down again, feet-first and hit Lavi behind his back. Lavi hit the ground, stomach first and felt a few ribs break as hot warm liquid burst from his mouth. He gasped from the pain and struggled to stand up again.

He let his two shaking hands, one still holding his hammer, support him as he arched his back painfully; which made his mouth taste more of the coppery liquid. And slowly and painfully, he got up again.

He looked at her with determination, willing to do anything to free her from the Noah's control.

Lavi weighed his options: he can't hit Lenalee, of course, since there's always the possibility of being killed off by her first. He can't hit the two spectators since Lenalee's the one that's getting his attacks. He can't just stand here, since he'll get killed off. Use _Heaven Seal_? It might be useful since Lavi could use it to shock Lenalee, though not too much, only enough to make her immobile. But just thinking of hurting Lenalee is preposterous! Even though Lavi was supposed to become the Bookman someday, he can't hurt Lenalee.

But Lavi noticed something weird. Lenalee wasn't moving even though Lavi had been only standing there for a few minutes already.

_Weird_… thought Lavi as he looked over at the two antagonists again. They were just standing there, doing nothing this time.

And his throbbing body felt weird. As though it wasn't hurt at all! All these weird occurrences…

This made Lavi's calculating head work feverishly. If one of those two kids could somehow 'control' Lenalee, could it be possible he, Lavi, was being controlled instead? Could it be? It could be possible. Referring to what happened earlier, when Lavi tried to hit those two brats, his attack somehow hit Lenalee instead.

This made Lavi change his options. It might be stupid, but if he can't hit Lenalee, nor could he hit those two brats, then there's only one thing he could do to end this all.

He held out his hammer in a fighting stance and a set of seals circled him. He held his head low, his hand shaking and felt wet. Then, he chose a seal. '_Heaven Seal!_' he thought as he slammed the hammer down on the seal.

Just as he did, the already dark and cold room became somehow darker and colder. He noticed Lenalee break her legs apart in a fighting stance and smiled. And just then, a ray of lighting struck him.

And Lavi's world went black.

* * *

Lenalee Lee watched in horror as Lavi was struck with his own lighting. She screamed his name as he fell to the ground with a thud. Then she ran to him in a matter of milliseconds and scooped him up in both of her hands.

Then she looked at the two kids who looked disappointed at the outcome. Somehow, they didn't expect this to happen and were unsatisfied with the results.

"Aww… He figured it out, he's no fun at all!" remarked Road, her face scrunched up in between a pout and a frown as she tugged hard at her brother's sleeve. Her white-haired brother, who Lenalee heard was called Allen, in turn let out a sigh and an earnest smile.

"It's no use, Road," says Allen gently at Road. "You promised them you'd let them go once they win your game, so it's best you'd let them go."

Road pouted. "Alright… They weren't even fun…" she sighed as she turned her head down in defeat. Then, her down-cast eyes began to gleam again as she looked at Lenalee menacingly. "But hear this, dear Exorcist," she says. Lenalee then hugged the now-unconscious Lavi more tightly. "This event is the 'welcoming party' of the Noahs. The next time we meet, it would be the Duke's scenario."

* * *

"Hey, Allen," says Road as she slumped on the red velvet couch. Her dark hair flopped sideways as she did. Her now-dark eyes bored out of hell. "Why didn't we just kill them? They _are_ our enemy…"

Allen had his smile on again, as he sat down beside her and ordered an AKUMA to go get him some tea. "That is because I had fun with them."

Road frowned. "But I didn't."

Then Allen smiled mischievously. "Then poor you," Allen told her sardonically. Road then became red and pounced on him, Allen in turn tickled her easily because of her build. She tried to kick him off, since she could breathe from laughing, but failed to do so.

Just as she was about to use both of her legs to kick Allen off, the opening of the door stopped both of them in their tracks. And from the door, out came Tyki, and smoke was trailing him.

Road then ran to him and hugged him tightly. "You're here, Tyki!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah," says Tyki nonchalantly. "You two have been up to something recently, haven't you?"

Both Allen and Road smiled mischievously as Road let go of Tyki and slumped with Allen again. "Maybe," says Road with a shady look on her small face.

At this, Tyki gave up on them and slumped with them on the couch. "Listen, you two," he says with an air of seriousness. "The Duke, we're on the move."

At this, Road perked up. She now finally has something to do. "Finally!" she let out loudly. "What're we going to do then? When are we going to do it? Can we do it now? It's so boring here!"

"Oh, the Duke really didn't have specific any specific orders but it's near," says Tyki with a wave of his arm. He then continued, "He just told us to wait a bit more."

At that, Road became down again, much to Allen's amusement. Then Tyki still continued, but only this time, he spoke to Allen directly. "Would it be hard for you, Allen? To kill your own kin? Exorcists?"

Road seemed to be interested in the subject too and stopped her jabbering to listen to Allen's response; which would determine whether he was really intent on being on the Noah's side.

Allen's answer satisfied both of them. At first, Allen looked distressed and offended. "Are you joking, Tyki? I'd never kill them!," he exclaimed. Then Allen looked at them with feverish, but cold eyes and with a smile. "I'd play with them first."

* * *

So? What did ya' think? I was thinking of introducing Kanda on the next chappie, if I could do it…


	10. Twin Nightmare

**Twin Nightmare**

Yu Kanda's POV.

Kanda Yu was never the type to show emotion, with the exception of rage. And contempt. And irritation. So when he heard from their four-eyed, sister-complex supervisor that the idiot rabbit and Lenalee have been withdrawn from their duty in America and were sent back here to be treated by Bookman, and both were in a coma, Kanda couldn't help but scoff and get annoyed at their supervisor, who was being comforted by Reever and was crying loudly at a corner. It wasn't pleasant when you see your supervisor's snot while he's telling you news only to break down and listen to remblings you can't understand. It was just annoying.

Kanda couldn't help but shoot a glare at the pathetic bastard and his stupid beret hat, arms crossed. And there's the thing about that idiot rabbit too.

Kanda's glare quickly shifted to a sleeping red-head; but then quickly withdrew his glare and unwillingly looked at Lenalee, then to his side, frowning.

For some reason, he can't bear to look at the two. He also felt a bit disturbed

The idiot rabbit hasn't been here long, but Lenalee was with him.. How the Hell can they both be defeated, much more go into a coma? Kanda shot a disgusted look at snotty four-eyes again.

Did this idiot send these two on a mission that's beyond both their level? _He can't have_, Kanda thought. He's too obsessed with his sister to let her get hurt. And wasn't this supposed to be a confirmed level one akuma? So why were—

"Kanda, you seem to be deep in thought," says a voice to Kanda's right. Kanda turned his eye to see Reever, looking as pale and as tired with the usual eye bags that look like they could reach the floor if you looked at them long enough.

Kanda's response was to shoot a glare at Reever for disturbing his train of thought. Reever was wise enough to know that he had irritated Kanda and, for a split second, seemed to have returned the irritated look Kanda gave him but his expression turned quickly into a serious look.

"Kanda, since the supervisor is in no fit state to relay you of your mission," Reever began. But Kanda already knew what the nerd was going to say, and before Reever could say another word, Kanda turned his back to him.

"Hey! Wait!" Reever called after him. "I haven't—"

"You want me to wait until they wake up and find out who did this to them," Kanda said nonchalantly. "And at the same time, find out the reason why and how they are in a coma. Anything else?"

Reever just stood there, looking annoyed again. He drew in a quick breath and said, "There've been reports of similar cases to one or two more exorcists in missions all over the world. Apparently these two weren't the only unfortunate ones…" Reever added sadly.

Kanda scoffed. "Just tell that old man to hurry up so I can get on with this," he said. With that, he stormed off to his lunch. Though, Kanda wasn't sure what was going on, he was sure that it wasn't some high-level akuma that put them in that state; or else they would've been dead instead of being in a coma.

Kanda felt a slight itch as he walked through the dark halls of the Black Order. He feels like this was only the beginning of a long, hard and annoying mission.

* * *

Lavi's POV.

Lavi stood at the middle of somewhere you would consider as a park; there were knee-high fences that were arch-shaped to divide the stone pavements and lush green grass. Butterflies of all colors swarmed every inch of the air all around him. His body felt so light, as though he weighed as light as paper. Everywhere he looked was vibrant and looked like it had full of life. Lavi breathed the air in as though he had never breathed air before.

At the corner of his eye, he saw that the multi-colored cluster of butterflies were obscuring something east of him.

As though the butterflies read his mind, they moved away, like Moses parting the red sea. Only he wasn't Moses, and the one opening wasn't salt water and fish, but a cluster of butterflies. What they revealed almost blinded him. Literally. There was a blinding light when the butterflies parted, and when it was safe enough, Lavi opened his eyes.

Right there lay mountains of books. Piles of them, untouched. Not yet read by any human eye in the world, up until Lavi will get his hands on all of them. He hurriedly picked one book.

Feeling giddy and anxious as to what he may learn, he opened the book. But before he could read what was in the book, something caught his eye. Again. Only this time, it wasn't a book.

It was a pigtailed, dark-haired girl with two of the biggest and most gorgeous b—_I mean_ —eyes Lavi had ever seen. Her hair went all down to her waist and she was wearing a white shirt and skirt, but no boots.

Lavi couldn't almost breathe He just stood there' frozen, the open book still in his hands. _I'd have to pinch myself to remind me this is a dream_, he thought to himself gleefully. But what the heck!

"Do you like it here Lavi? You should stay."

This time, Lavi didn't freeze because he's excited or giddy. A cold chill ran up from his spine that sent the back of his hair standing up. Eyes down, anxious of the voice that he had heard just now, Lavi tried to shake the Goosebumps off by rubbing the back of his neck with his clammy hands.

Suddenly, Lavi can feel it, the bright world that he had dreamt of wasn't so bright anymore. The once free and open space filled with lush green was now being obscured by brick walls covering all sides, falling out of the sky, every piece seemed to fall perfectly on top of each other. The beautiful butterflies were burning and most of them like charred and dead on the stone floor, surrounding him with ash. As Lavi looked at the book at his hands, he read:

STAY, LAVI. STAY, LAVI. STAY, LAVI. STAY, LAVI.

STAY, LAVI. STAY, LAVI. STAY, LAVI. STAY, LAVI.

Lavi tried to throw it away in vain. It was as if it was nailed to his hand. It hurt when he tried to pry it off. As soon as he did, everything was silent. After a while, he realized he was able to take the book off, and bricks weren't falling out of the sky to make walls anymore. But he was trapped.

Lavi realized that his heart was beating so fast, it could beat itself out of his chest if it goes unnoticed. His breathing was labored, as though he was killing akuma for twenty-four hours straight. His mouth was dry and he was sweating all over. And he was getting dizzy.

_This is a dream, right? _he asked himself. Afterwards, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"1, 2, 3!" he counted off. At three, he pinched himself really hard, he thought blood would pour out of himself. But it didn't. But then again, nothing happened until Lavi heard something from a distance. It came from up above.

Lavi looked up, cupping a hand to the underside of his ear to hear the distant noise better.

Slowly, the sound came. It was horrible. It was a scream. But not only that, it was a scream from someone he knew.

Lavi cupped his ears, closed his eyes shut and retreated to a corner.

This only made things worse as the scream grew louder and louder, eventually not even Lavi's cupped hands over his ears can stop the screaming.

Unwillingly, as though someone controlled him, he opened his now-teary eyes to see the source of the screaming, which had stopped abruptly as soon as he did. It was from an akuma. Akuma only had one soul in it, but this one had several others. Others that he cared about, or had met. Lenalee, the Supervisor, Gramps, Yu and several other people at the Black Order. If the people in the Order were bright and mostly optimistic, these were the hellish, and dark versions of them all.

They looked disfigured, all of them joined up together by a black ball of muck. All of them opened their mouths in a ghastly way that seemed like they were screaming a silent scream. All of their yellow eyes looking at him, in a pleading, horrible way.

Right beside the ghastly ball of muck was someone that made Lavi's heart stop. It was the white-haired boy. Allen. He was smiling evilly at Lavi, obviously enjoying the scene. The white-haired devil-incarnate opened his mouth to laugh, and as soon as he did, the screaming started again too.

_STOP, JUST STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!_ Lavi thought with all of his might. It took him a while to realize that the screams weren't coming from the ball of akuma muck but from himself.

Fortunately, that was just enough for a wake-up call.

* * *

Lavi woke up, screaming. It took him a while to realize that he wasn't the only one who was screaming. Lavi turned his head sideways to see Lenalee, looking at him. They mirrored each other.

Both of them were wet from their own sweat, his and Lenalee's hair were damp because of it. Both of them were breathing irregularly, and they had the same frightened expression—_I, well_—_except for the fact that my expression was more manly_, Lavi thought. Though he knew that this was not the time to be cracking jokes to himself.

Their unified scr—_yell_ had awoken supervisor Komui, who had dozed off on a chair beside Lenalee. Lavi looked around the dark, moonlight-illuminated room to see someone reassuring.

He was bald, except for a patch of grey hair that was ponytailed at the back of his head. If you didn't know any better, you would say it was shaped like a question mark. He also wore black makeup around his eyes. Lavi had the urge to call him by his nickname, but quickly resorted to—

"Gramps—" Lavi's voice cracked.

The old Panda was sitting on a stool, Lavi can only make out his appearance because of the moon illuminating the old man.

He could hear Komui's insistent jabbering about how worried he was, Komui's sobs and Lenalee's reassuring voice to the worried supervisor. Lavi also noticed there was a large bouquet of flowers at the bedside table between his and Lenalee's bed. _From Komui, no doubt_.

He then turned his attention back to the old Panda again, this time, instead of the look of being confused, he looked serious. He has a lot to tell to the old man.

"Gramps, I—" Lavi began.

"Leave it for now, boy," the old man said, unmoving. "Rest for now, and we'll talk in the morning." With that, Bookman never said another word. And Lavi, realizing he was tired, tried to sleep. It took him a while to do so, but he slept eventually. His dream was filled with Lenalee fighting akuma by his side, fluttering multi-colored butterflies, and Road and Allen laughing at him.

* * *

Yu Kanda's POV.

The Black Order's hallways were still illuminated by candles that either hung over the ceiling or by the wall. Why do you ask? Because it was still dark outside. He had been called out by four-eyes because he had important news: Lavi and Lenalee had awoken!

It was suspicious that two people that were in a coma the same time would awaken the same day, much less the same time.

Kanda took large steps as he strode towards the supervisor's office, giving dirty looks at anyone trying to either get in his way or look at him. He has a no-looking policy, but everyone else doesn't seem to get the point. Even though he tried to give as much dirty looks at everyone, they still all stared back at him. Though, none of them got in his way because when he got as close as two meters near them, they make a way for him. He felt like that Moses-guy.

And then he just scoffed.

As he turned the knob of the door to Komui's office and opened the door, he instantly heard—

"Yu!"

Kanda would know that voice anywhere. Childish, irritating, annoying… And every other word in a therasus that's similar to the words mentioned before. It was the rabbit.

The stupid rabbit waved his hand at Kanda gleefully, as always. Kanda shot him an irritated look, which made him smile more stupidly.

Kanda ignored him and turned his attention to snotty-nosed Komui.

"What is it?" Kanda asked simply.

Komui stood p from his chair and pulled out a handkerchief to blow his nose, then turned to Kanda with a serious expression. "Kanda," he said, then he paused, glancing at the bouquet beside Lenalee.

Kanda waited, but it seemed like Komui had forgotten. "What?" Kanda repeated impatiently.

That seemed to have brought back the supervisor to his senses and moved closer to Kanda. He then beckoned Kanda to move closer too, as if to whisper something. But instead of moving closer, Kanda didn't move an inch and just stood there, beginning to start to get irritated.

Komui took a piece of paper from his coat's inner pocket. There seems to be something scribbled at the paper, and so, Kanda moved closer to see it.

_Daffodils_

_Roses_

_Daisy_

"I don't know which one to pick. Please help me?" the supervisor pleaded, looking stupid.

But before Kanda could unsheathe Mugen, someone went down to business immediately. "Oi, girlie," said Bookman. Kanda shot him a dirty look. "It seems that you will have to forfeit this mission."

"Why?"

The old man paused to look at him seriously, then looked away. "It's best you leave something like this to the generals. This issue is way up over your head, boy."

Kanda wasn't going to pry, but Komui, now a little bit more sane, continued. "We'll fill you in later with the details, Kanda. Right after I file my report," Komui added grumpily. Then Komui cheered up again, "Too bad you weren't here to comfort your friends Lavi. He was having a nightmare…"

This caused Lavi to protest, but before the rabbit can say anything, Kanda asked, "Nightmare, huh? Did he wake up in the middle of the night, screaming?"

"N—"

"Oh, yes!"

"Komui!" shouted Lavi, looking embarrassed. "Look, Yu—" Kanda shot him a dirty look. "—I was not screaming, but yelling. I was _yelling_."

"Whatever," Kanda said as he turned to leave, but Komui was at the door. He held the piece of paper in front of Kanda again, "Now will you help me choose?"

Kanda's response was to cut the paper in half. With that, he stormed out of the office.

* * *

_Okay, so I haven't updated this for a year and you're all probably mad at me and thought I was dead.. Err... Sorry... I just haven't had the inspiration to write for a while, but the next chapter may be a bit delayed... I'm just starting college, and I have a few artworks to finish for our yearbook... :D Hope you enjoyed it~_

_Oh, and if I can, I'll explain Lavi's and Lenalee's dream in the next chapter.._

* * *

**Allen**: *checks the whole story* Hey! I'm not here…

**Me**: You're in the dream…

**Allen**: *pouts* But why does the dream have to be a nightmare?

**Me**: *succumbs to pout* Th-then I'll make sure everyone dreams happily of you!

**Kanda**: Che! Typical! How can anybody dream happy of him when he's sadistically tormenting other people? Hm?

**Me**: *fumes and glares at Kanda*Leave him alone!


End file.
